ABSTRACT:
Childhood is a vital period for developing foundational intellectual, behavioural, and health-related behaviours which impact lifelong welfare. Notwithstanding ample evidence encouraging earlier efforts to promote health, health education disparities keep growing across preschoolers, especially during communities that are excluded. This study assessed KinderCare Connect, a health promotion effort integrated by Service-Learning Malaysia and the University for Society (SULAM) that aimed to improve preschool children's knowledge and behaviours in nutrition, hand cleanliness, and oral health. A descriptive observational design was used with 15 preschool children aged between 4 to 6 years in Tadika Kurnia Gemilang, Pengkalan Chepa, Malaysia. The intervention comprised of interactive, play-based activities carried out by trained university student volunteers that included music, demonstrations, and hands-on practice. The capability of children in health knowledge, attention, focus, task engagement, and application of skills was measured through the usage of structured observation checklist. The findings showed noticeable improvements in levels of health knowledge, where oral health practice ranked the highest, followed by nutrition and handwashing. The children showed a strong capability for accurate task execution and the application of learnt capabilities independently; however, attentional endurance, limited distractions, and correct help-seeking demonstrated moderate to poor levels. Overall, the findings of the study ascertain that the SULAM-integrated KinderCare Connect approach is an efficient method for building foundational levels of health literacy, and the need for enhanced scaffolding for preschool children's executive and self-regulation capabilities.