Impact of a video-based nutrition education program on the nutrition knowledge of students and parents: evidence from the North Region of Cameroon

Background: Schools are an attractive platform for improving the dietary knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of children and their families, yet limited nutrition knowledge amongst educators can impede nutrition education efforts. Information and communication technology (ICT) can potentially overcome this barrier, yet there is limited evidence for its effectiveness in school settings in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: We implemented a randomized field experiment in 50 schools in the North Region of Cameroon to assess the effectiveness of a school-based nutrition education program at improving the nutrition knowledge of fifth and sixth grade students and their parents. We evaluate the relative effectiveness of video-based versus typical classroom instruction. Nutrition knowledge is assessed using a pre-post questionnaire and analyzed using analysis of covariance. Results: We find that students exposed to the video treatment improved their nutrition knowledge scores by 0.45 standard deviation more (equivalent to an additional 1.3 out of 14 correct answers) than students that received traditional classroom instruction. There is no differential impact of video on the nutrition knowledge scores of parents. Conclusion: Videos can improve knowledge gains compared with typical classroom instruction, but questions remain as to the conditions under which videos and other ICT are most effective as instructional tools.