Early development process of drama and storytelling scripts as media for nutrition education on balanced diets among elementary school children

The Indonesian Guide on Balanced Nutrition endorsed in 2014, needs to be more widely publicised. One way is to use fun learning methods such as drama and storytelling, especially in schools. This study aimed to develop drama and storytelling scripts for educating students on balanced nutrition. Methods: Sixteen focus group discussions (FDGs) with thematic activities were conducted among 96 mother-child pairs in four elementary schools. The mothers’ age ranged from 30-50 years and the children 9-13 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight teachers (two from each participating school). The FGDs and interviews were designed to elicit information on knowledge and implementation of balanced nutrition guidelines at three levels, namely intrapersonal (students), family (mother) and environment (school teacher). Content analysis was used to identify relevant themes, which were developed into scripts for drama and storytelling. Results: The students, mothers, and teachers were not familiar with the general guidelines for balanced nutrition. The lack of variety of the food provided at home was reported. The draft scripts were discussed and modied for accuracy of the nutrition messages that were applied in character dialogues, song lyrics, dramas and storytelling. Conclusion: Storytelling and drama are effective for use by teachers and mothers for delivering nutrition messages in schools and the home.