LiteratureBase
Does knowledge of evolutionary biology change high school students’ attitudes about healthy eating?
Sherry, D. S. (2019). Does knowledge of evolutionary biology change high school students’ attitudes about healthy eating?. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 12(1), 1-11.
Abstract
- Embedded in the emerging area of evolutionary medicine is the premise that evolutionary biology can serve a pedagogical function with widespread applications for education and outreach. Although great strides have been taken over the decades by the science education community to improve evolution education in general, the knowledge gulf or gap between advances in evolutionary medicine and public understanding through the educational system has widened at a rapid pace—and not without consequences for public health, especially for young people. Epidemiological data indicate that the high rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes have begun to extend to adolescents and teenagers, an alarming trend of great concern. Would knowledge of the evolutionary biology perspective on diet and health have value for young people? Little is known about the efficacy of evolutionary medicine education as a public health outreach strategy. A small study was conducted at a New England high school and consisted of two research components: (1) a cross-sectional survey of students’ views about what “healthy eating” means and (2) an intervention experiment designed to isolate exposure to knowledge of evolutionary biology. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires and analyzed according to qualitative methods.
- Concepts Diet, Evolutionary medicine, Health, Human evolution, Nutrition, Paleo
- Relevant learning goals Critical Thinking, Evaluation Competency, Evolutionary Thinking, Interdisciplinary Thinking
- Relevant subject areas Biology, ESD, Health, Human Evolution
- Relevant research methods Student conceptions, Survey, Teaching experiment
- Relevant projects Global ESD, OpenEvo
