Promoting the Use of Children’s Picture Books in Nutrition and Health

Registered dietitians serve as the trusted source of food and nutrition information in a variety of professional settings. Whereas clinical practice remains a top priority, dietitians also work in health promotion settings with children and adults across the lifespan. The main aim of this study was to describe and explain searches from the Children’s Picture Book Database at Miami University (CPBD@MU), available and sustained on the internet since 1995, to support dietitians who need educational materials when working with children. Assumptions highlighting the value of using a picture book database for descriptive research will be discussed. Methods—Descriptive data were tallied from the CPBD@MU using 5,900 picture books assigned with 1,300 multidisciplinary tags and sorted by eight disciplines in the elementary school curriculum: health education, physical education, art, music, science, language arts, social studies, and mathematics. Data included 1,339 books with the keyword of food and 895 books with the keyword of nutrition. Results—Nutrition and food storylines represented 15% and23% of the curated collection, respectively, from the census of 5,900 picture books in the CPBD@MU. Investigators also examined Boolean searches using combinations of keywords from 1,300 multidisciplinary tags. Page views in Google Analytics for one year showed that nutrition was the eighth-highest performing category out of fifty-nine topical categories from multidisciplinary searches in the CPBD@MU. Conclusions—Picture books represent a resource for communicating food and nutrition information to children. Dietitians can form partnerships with teachers, librarians, parents, and community health workers to support children’s health by accessing, analyzing, and promoting hundreds of picture books about food and nutrition found in the curated CPBD@MU. Sample search strategies for accessing food and nutrition books by topics, concepts, and skills are shared, including philosophical and educational implications when professionals use picture books with children.