MyPlate Food Model and Family Grocery Shopping with Second and Third Graders are Significant Interventions for the Development of Interactive Health Literacy Skills

A school-based nutrition education intervention was implemented with second and third graders who used their functional health literacy skills of reading, writing, and speaking to learn about the MyPlate food model from the United States Department of Agriculture. The pretest-posttest intervention determined if children had ever seen the MyPlate food picture and if children participated in grocery shopping and meal making events with their family at home. Interactive health literacy accounted for the conversations that children had with their teachers about food and nutrition when learning about the MyPlate food model and when preparing three recipes over three days in the school classroom. Interactive health literacy strategies also included children’s ability to interact and learn about the MyPlate food model as a valid and reliable print and electronic material associated with meal planning. Implications and guidelines for teachers and parents are discussed for advancing the need for and understanding of functional and interactive health literacy for elementary children in the United States.