THE PRACTICE OF NUTRITION EDUCATION AT A NUMBER OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN HO CHI MINH CITY AND THE DEMAND OF A NUTRITION HANDBOOK FOR SUPPORTING TEACHING SCIENCE 4

Nutritional education for elementary school students is increasingly being emphasized due to the growing number of children suffering from nutritional-related diseases. This research investigates the current status of nutrition education at the primary level as well as the need to use nutrition handbooks in teaching, supporting the improvement of nutrition education effectiveness. Therefore, the nutrition handbook is designed to support teaching the topic of Human and Health in the content of Human Nutrition in the 4th-grade Science subject to meet the 2018 General Education Program. A survey involving 214 4th-grade students and 25 teachers studying and teaching at several schools in Ho Chi Minh City will be presented. The results show the necessity of handbooks in supporting the improvement of students' and teachers’ learning and teaching effectiveness. Keywords: Nutrition handbook; nutritional education; primary school; 4th grade Science.