Do Finnish home economics and health education textbooks promote constructivist learning in nutrition education?

In Finnish secondary schools, nutrition education is integrated mainly in home economics and health education lessons. The aim of this research was to describe the content and pedagogical style in food- and nutrition-related texts in secondary school textbooks. Textbooks are important learning tools in education in so far as they reflect current pedagogical thinking and the objectives set in the national core curriculum. The study data consisted commonly used home economics (n=4) and health education (n=3) textbooks. Nutrition contents of the textbooks were compatible with the national core curriculum. The scope of nutrition education in health education textbooks was health centred, whereas home economics textbooks considered also cultural and environmental aspects of nutrition education. All textbooks considered adolescents' current nutrition issues. The pedagogical style was usually participative in exercises and neutral informative in a plain text; however, a considerable amount of text was written on using a persuasive style. Overall, textbook pedagogical style supported the constructivist idea of learning, and textbooks can be a positive agent for change as we strive towards a better nutrition health in children and adolescents.