Children have the power to make better food choices!
As an organisation that cares deeply about community support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, 3Pumpkins felt that it could play a part in improving health literacy for the children and their families. Teaming up with Cultivate Central, an urban permaculture design consultancy, BEB was launched in November 2022 at Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC), a community social space located in Boon Lay for children aged 7-14 to gather, mingle and learn as a community.
The Better Eat Better (BEB) programme empowers children to make better food choices. Through an Awareness, Adoption and Advocacy framework, the programme implements participatory action research and community development approaches to create a community health movement. This collaborative effort has empowered 150 children and 70 volunteers, generating knowledge and experiences that have benefited over 1000 individuals.
Resources:
AWARENESS
Participatory Action Research (PAR) serves as a framework for research and knowledge generation, rooted in the belief that the community most impacted by interventions should actively participate in the research and development process. The PAR process is organic and iterative, with programme implementation constantly tested and tweaked based on community feedback and environmental changes.
The BEB Participatory Action Research Waves
Facilitator Michelle Ow engaging children in a discussion about their eating habits, Dec 2022
Sample record of “My Daily Food Journey” written by a facilitator while interviewing a child, Feb 2023
Findings from "My Daily Food Journey” surveys
Patterns concluded from PAR 1. Infographic sketched by Nova C. Nelson, Jul 2024
Please refer to our full PAR report detailing our processes, findings, and solutioning with the community.
ADOPTION
TTKC adopts the self-determination theory of motivation, which suggests that individuals thrive when they experience a sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Learning and co-creating solutions through strong community bonds is thus the bedrock of our community engagement and development work. Here are the ways we nurture health through community living!
Grow Together
The TTKC Garden offers children the chance to grow and care for plants which are used and consumed in the community kitchen. This empowers them to become food producers in their own neighbourhood.
Shop Together
Food are easily purchased in the neighbourhood. What knowledge do children need to make informed food choices? Through shopping together, BEB involves children in proactive budgeting, reading food labels, and recognising ingredients to make healthier choices.
Cook Together
The TTKC Kitchen is where children learn to prepare snacks like pancakes, wraps, and sandwiches, and even cook dinners for the community. Through cooking together, children gain the skills to confidently create simple, tasty, and nutritious food for themselves, their friends and families.
Eat Together
Children build a sense of community by serving food and sharing meals to ensure everyone enjoy the fruits of their labour. Through these shared experiences, they learn to appreciate diversity of food and culture.
The Sandwitches Club
A children-led initiative for healthy sandwiches to be made for TTKC excursions and community events. The club makes at least 40 sandwiches for every excursion, thus solving the issue of having to buy expensive and less nutritious snacks for the outings.
ADVOCACY
A 10-minute edutainment video was co-created with the children, with four key messages derived from our surveys with 60 children and observations on the ground.
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Increase egg consumption in children's diets.
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Reduce "Triple S": Snacks, Sodium, and Sugar.
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Empower children to spend wisely.
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Empower children to read food labels with confidence.
Better Eat Better is part of an ongoing Movement for Health project at TTKC which is 75% funded by the government and the Tote Board. We are actively looking for financial support to close the funding gap.
Additionally, we are looking out for volunteer befrienders who would like to participate in our community engagement on a weekly basis, and creative personnels who would like to introduce ways which the children and families can cook affordable, simple and nutritious food for themselves.
Would you like to contribute to an innovative community health movement to benefit more children?
Please write in to team@3pumpkins.org
