Healthy eating and oral health education

cariology exemplified through experiments for riverside children of the Middle Solimões, State of Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The implementation of creative methodologies in favor of passing on healthy information has been an important aspect with regard to self-care awareness. This article aims to report a university extension experience carried out in a community of the Middle Solimões and which focused on the use of chemical experiments for the teaching of cariology related to the eating habits of riverside children. For this, an action was carried out involving the execution of two chemical experiments (“lava lamp” and “egg in vinegar”); a dialogic practice (participatory theater); and a perceptive mural of collective assimilation of contents (using illustrations of different foods). The experiences proved to be a relaxed way of passing on information on oral health; the participatory theater caught the attention of all the participants – mainly children aged between 5 and 8 years old –; and the perceptions mural revealed that the scientific knowledge passed on was very successfully assimilated by the target audience. The chemical experiments proved to be effective in the health education process for the aforementioned target audience. In addition, the extension academics reported solid learning about the living conditions of the riverside community, which complemented the knowledge obtained in graduation regarding this population.