Nutritional Numeracy: An Integrated Science-Numeracy Curriculum Model to Shape Healthy Eating Behavior in Early Childhood

Abstract

This study developed and examined the effectiveness of Nutritional Numeracy, an integrated science-numeracy curriculum model that uses nutrition-related contexts—such as observing and classifying food groups, counting food portions, and comparing nutritional values—to build early childhood science process skills, numeracy competence, and healthy eating behavior. Using a research and development (R&D) design with a simplified Define-Design-Develop model, the curriculum was tested through a quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design involving 32 children aged 5–6 years in Group B of TKIT Peusijuk Hatee, Kabupaten Bireuen. Data were collected using a validated nutritional numeracy test and a healthy eating behavior observation checklist. Paired t-test results showed significant improvements in both variables: nutritional numeracy scores rose from 58.4 to 84.1 (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.32), and healthy eating behavior scores rose from 60.2 to 81.7 (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.21), both with large effect sizes. Qualitative findings from classroom observations and teacher focus group discussions supported these results, showing increased enthusiasm among children in identifying healthy foods and greater willingness to try vegetables and fruits. These findings extend early childhood curriculum literature by positioning food-related contexts as a practical vehicle for integrating science and numeracy learning, with pedagogical implications for embedding food-based observing, classifying, counting, and comparing activities into daily instruction to cultivate healthy eating habits from an early age.