Método intuitivo como base pedagógica em ações de educação alimentar e nutricional com escolares sobre sistemas alimentares sustentáveis

Abstract

The current epidemiological and climatic scenario highlights the need for educational strategies capable of promoting food and nutrition security, given the increase in hunger, the double burden of malnutrition, and the growing incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Pestalozzi’s Intuitive Method (IM) as a pedagogical foundation for Food and Nutrition Education (FNE) actions. The aim was to enhance knowledge about sustainable food systems and contribute to the promotion of healthy and sustainable institutional food environments among elementary school children from public schools in Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This randomized controlled trial was conducted in five municipal schools, involving 208 children aged 8 and 9 years, randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The FNE actions, carried out in outdoor learning environments (school garden, cafeteria, and courtyard), comprised eight sessions covering all stages of the food system. The first article derived from this research evaluated changes in knowledge using a questionnaire administered before and after the interventions, analyzed through multivariate logistic regression. The results indicated a statistically significant association (p < 0.05) between participation in the activities and increased knowledge, with the greatest effects observed in topics such as fresh foods, reduced pesticide use, and environmental impacts of food production and consumption. There was a marked reduction in the number of responses indicating lack of knowledge in the intervention group, reinforcing the potential of this methodology for knowledge construction. The second article, with an extension focus, analyzed children’s drawings as a way to describe and consolidate the learning achieved throughout the activities. This activity was conducted at the end of the intervention cycle, in the school setting, as a participatory strategy to encourage free expression and synthesis of the content addressed. The analysis revealed that the themes most frequently covered in the interventions, such as family farming, agroecological production, environmental issues related to monocultures and pesticide use, and the adoption of practices for full use of food and waste reduction, were also the most represented in the drawings, indicating knowledge appropriation and integration between theory and practice. It is concluded that the IM, combined with the use of school gardens and practical pedagogical resources, fostered a critical understanding of the relationships among food production, distribution, consumption, and disposal, encouraging more conscious reflections and attitudes aligned with the promotion of healthy and sustainable food systems.