This article describes some of the approaches used and challenges encountered conducting nutrition education research in junior high schools. The Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at School (TEENS) study recruited 16 schools and over 3800 seventh graders to participate in an intervention to increase students' intakes of fruits, vegetables, and lower fat foods for the purpose of reducing their future risk of cancer. The TEENS intervention included a classroom curriculum as well as a school environment and family component. This article describes some of the issues faced in the design and implementation of the study including recruiting schools and teens, maximizing the number of students within each intervention school exposed to all components of the intervention, and implementing elements of nutrition education in a classroom setting. The methods used to meet these challenges and the success of the methods attempted are described.
Objective: This qualitative research describes some of the social organization of the American nutrition profession set ill place by an apparent competition between two kinds of knowledge-a science-based knowledge and another more experimental knowledge drawn from practice.Design: The methodological approach is constructivist and uses the theoretical framework of sociologist Dorothy Smith.Subjects and Settings: Multiple data sources include: interviews and bibliographic data from 23 purposefully selected subjects who taught or studied in a graduate-level Nutrition Program at Teacher College, Columbia University from 1937 to 1992; administrative reports of the Program; faculty writings; dissertations approved by the program, the author's twenty-five years of experience in the nutrition profession; and a series of diagrams drawn to interpret and describe the data. Subjects recounted their varied professional experience during the 55-year period as a part of a larger study.Main Outcome Measures: The research traces changes in the relationship between nutrition science and practice as shaped by underlying sciences (food, agriculture, nutrition and health), related industries (food and health care), and culturally-bound gender ideals.Data Analysis: Data analysis was based on recommended strategies for all inductive, interpretive, ethnographic case study.Results: Subjects identified three forms of the construct of food-as nutrients, as marketable products, and as nurturance. This research suggests that the nurturing properties of food, the knowledge this generates, and the practitioners associated with nurturance are vulnerable and risk disappearance inside the profession, due to a history of resistance to this aspect of our discipline.Implications: The author recommends collaborative research between nutritionists and historians, sociologists and others to bring forth a more critical history of this profession.
Past evaluation research has documented improved nutritional outcomes resulting from participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). However, these evaluations have not examined the program from the clients' perspective, nor have they examined the independent effect of the nutrition education component. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively examine client satisfaction with the nutrition education component of the California WIC program. The methodology consisted of two phases. During phase I of the study (the quantitative component), participants completed Client Satisfaction Surveys immediately following attendance of one nutrition class. During phase II (the qualitative component), four focus groups were conducted. All subjects were participants in the California WIC program. Client Satisfaction Surveys were completed by 2138 participants, and the focus groups included 29 participants. Results from both phases of the study indicated that client satisfaction with the nutrition education component of the California WIC program was high. Between 80% and 95% of participants responded positively to five satisfaction questions, and focus group participants unanimously agreed that the nutrition education was an essential component of the program. Hispanic participants were more likely than non-Hispanic Caucasians, Asians, or African Americans to respond positively to three of the five satisfaction questions. For two of the questions, the frequency of positive responses increased as age increased and decreased as education level increased. A small segment of clients reported some dissatisfaction by responding negatively to one or more of the satisfaction questions (4% to 20% of respondents). Some suggestions for improvement were made by survey respondents. Identification of some WIC participants who are not completely satisfied with the nutrition education that they have received, paired with differences in satisfaction across demographic variables, suggests the need for a personalized approach to WIC nutrition education.
Research has shown that educational games can have positive impacts on student learning and motivation. The success of a game played in a library instruction class depends on the type of game selected, the development of learning outcomes, and the flexibility of the librarian during class. This article explains the benefits to students and librarians of using games, discusses the development and use of a Jeopardy-style game, and provides practical tips for librarians interested in developing and incorporating games into one-time library instruction sessions.
Objective: To explore the influence of administrative aspects of a nutrition education program with peer educators delivering the program.Design: Telephone interviews with peer educators trained to deliver La Cocina Saludable, a nutrition education program for Hispanics. Open- and dosed-ended questions.Subiects/Settings: Abuelas (grandmothers) recruited and trained as peer educators for the program. The sample included peer educators no longer teaching (22%), currently teaching (30%), and who never taught after training.Main Outcome Measures: Motives and incentives for becoming peer educators, challenges for peer educators, and reasons peer educators withdrew from the program.Statistical Analyses Performed: Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data from the closed-ended questions. Qualitative analysis was applied to data from open-ended questions.Results: Working with community and learning about nutrition were prime motivators. Recruiting participants and coordination of classes appeared to be major challenges. Personal issues and traveling in a large geographic area were cited as the main reasons for quitting.Implications: The effectiveness of using peer educators for La Cocina Saludable may be improved through empowerment, additional training, a structured and equitable reimbursement system, and assistance to carry out administrative tasks.
Objective: To examine the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about weight control and eating disorders among trainee home economics and physical education teachers and to assess their body image and weight control practices. The association between actual body weight and body image was also examined.Design: Survey research was undertaken using a self-report questionnaire. Height and weight were measured.Subjects/Settings: Trainee home economics and physical education teachers (N = 216, 96% participation rate) in their last month of training at three major state teacher training universities completed a questionnaire during their regular class times.Main Outcome Measures: Advice teachers give to overweight adolescents knowledge and beliefs about eating disorders, body image, desired weight, food habits, dieting, body appearance ratings, weight control practices, and diagnosed and self-reported eating disorders.Statistical Analysis Performed: Descriptive statistics, chi square, and analyses of variance compare gender and Body Mass Index differences.Results: Males (85%) and females (87%) advised young overweight adolescents to diet to lose weight. Twenty percent of females and 13% of males regularly skipped breakfast. The advise given showed a lack of specific nutrition education about weight control, adolescent nutritional needs, and fad diets. Participants held misconceptions about eating disorders, and a range of 14% to 72% answered these questions incorrectly. Fourteen percent of females self-reported that they currently had in eating disorder,but only 6% had received treatment. Some females used potentially dangerous methods of weight loss, including 19% who abused laxatives and 10% who induced vomiting.Implications: Trainee home economics and physical education teachers need specific nutrition information and training about eating disorders, weight control, and suitable advice for overweight students. The female trainee teacher in our study had a poor body image and disordered eating similar to other young,women in Western countries, and this should be taken into account by teacher training institutions.
People's eating behaviors tend to be influenced by the behaviors of others. In the present studies, we investigated the effect of another person's eating behavior and body weight appearance on healthy food consumption of young women. In Study 1, participants watched a short film fragment together with a confederate who appeared normal weight or overweight and consumed either 3 or 10 cucumber slices. In Study 2, a confederate who appeared underweight, normal weight, or overweight consumed no or 4 cucumber slices. The number of cucumber slices eaten by participants was registered. Results showed that participants' healthy eating behavior was influenced by the confederate's eating behavior when the confederate was underweight, normal weight, and overweight. Participants ate more cucumber slices when the confederate ate a higher amount of cucumber slices compared with a lower (or no) amount of cucumber slices (Studies 1 and 2). The food intake effect was stronger for the underweight compared with the overweight model (Study 2).
Adolescents’ dietary intake often fails to meet national dietary guidelines, especially among low-income African-American youth. The dietary habits established in adolescence are likely to continue into adulthood, and a poor-quality diet increases the risk of developing obesity and chronic disease. Based on principles from ecological and social-cognitive behavior change health theories, perceptions of parental beliefs about healthy eating, perceptions of peer eating behaviors, and parental monitoring of what adolescents eat may positively influence adolescent diet quality.The purposes of this study were to determine whether perceived parental beliefs about nutrition, perceived peer eating behaviors, and reported parental monitoring of the adolescent diet were related to African-American adolescent diet quality and whether these relationships were moderated by adolescent age or sex.This secondary cross-sectional study used baseline data (2002 to 2004) from an urban community sample of low-income adolescents participating in a health promotion trial.Participants were 216 African-American adolescent-caregiver dyads in Baltimore, MD.The 2010 Healthy Eating Index was used to estimate adolescent diet quality.Analyses included correlations, t tests, age- and sex-by-perception regression interactions, and multivariate regressions adjusted for body mass index–for-age percentile, caregiver weight status, and caregiver depressive symptoms.Higher diet quality scores were related to higher levels of perceived parental and peer support for healthy eating behaviors among adolescents (β=.21; P<0.05; β=.15; P<0.05, respectively) and to caregiver reports of parental monitoring of adolescent dietary behavior (β=1.38, P<0.01). Findings were not moderated by age or sex.Consistent with ecological and social-cognitive theories, adolescents look to their friends and family in making healthy food choices. The relationships uncovered by this study describe some of the contextual, interpersonal influences associated with diet quality among low-income, urban African-American adolescents and warrant further exploration in future intervention studies.
From the results of nutritional research amongst adolescents as well as experience in food and nutrition education, it is argued that the family meal, because of its culturally defined structural components, provides an excellent model for teaching healthy eating patterns to children, especially adolescents. The use of meal patterning in established nutrition education programs is reviewed and a case study is given of the process of adapting meal pattern information to a high-school nutrition education program. Possibilities for adapting nutrition education programs to meet educational goals in the future are explored and a plea is made to have more faith in teenagers’ relationship with food.
Resilience is the psychological capability to recover from difficulties quickly. Healthcare professionals are especially vulnerable to job-related stress and burnout. Unitary Caring Science is the framework for Watson’s Human Caring Theory, providing a philosophy of practice in healthcare. With the high rates of clinician burnout and psychological issues, it will be significant to unify the human caring theory with research-informed psychological and neuroscience evidence to develop clinicians’ resilience-building strategies. The purpose of this article is to introduce a Unitary Caring Science Resilience Model and explain the science behind the core strategies based on Unitary Caring Science philosophy and the psychological and neuroscience research. This model includes six strategies: Embracing loving-kindness for self and others; Nurturing interpersonal and intersubjective connections/relations; Deepening a creative use of self and sense of belonging; Balancing self-learning, self-awareness, and an evolved self-consciousness; Valuing forgiveness and releasing negativity; Inspiring and maintaining faith-hope. The caring-theory guided resilience-building strategies are proven to alleviate the depletion of clinicians’ energy and emotions. Healthcare practices are challenging but rewarding. Clinicians can be emotionally, psychologically, and physically exhausted if they always consider themselves ‘giving’ and ‘doing’ institutional tasks without a sense of purpose or fulfillment. The practice can be rewarding if it becomes more aligned with clinicians’ value to serve humanity. Through the unitary caring science resilience strategies, clinicians can build resilience as an antidote to clinician burnout and depletion.
The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for developing a sports nutrition education program in a collegiate athletic department. A review of literature on student-athlete nutrition behaviors is combined with practical suggestions from personnel who wrote a sports nutrition curriculum at a large Midwestern university. There are 2 primary implications for practice. First, maintaining a written curriculum and conducting periodic evaluation are fundamental aspects of sports nutrition education programs. Second, better documentation of program outcomes is needed to establish best practices in collegiate sports nutrition education and demonstrate the value of full-time sports registered dietitians.
The objective of this study was to assess which factors are related to the intention of elderly people to use vitamin D supplements.A questionnaire that was based on several theories, feedback of experts, and personal interviews with members of the target group was distributed among a random sample of 497 elderly people in a medium-sized town in the Netherlands (response 46%). Variables measured included perceived susceptibility, severity and control with respect to developing a vitamin D deficiency or getting a bone fracture, and beliefs, perceived social norms, modeling, self-efficacy, and intention with respect to the use of vitamin D supplements. Univariate analyses of variance, chi-square tests, stepwise multiple regression, and stepwise logistic regression analysis were performed. Respondents reporting a high intention had more positive attitudes and normative beliefs, higher self-efficacy expectations with respect to using vitamin D supplements, and more often used other supplements than respondents with a low intention. Subjects who already used vitamin D supplements were more often female and already familiar with the advice and had more positive attitudes and normative beliefs than nonusers. It was concluded that many elderly people have high intentions to start using vitamin D supplements as soon as they hear about the advice. A health promotion campaign to promote the use of vitamin D supplements should aim at making elderly people familiar with the Health Council of the Netherlands' advice. Furthermore, the campaign should place emphasis on changing attitudes, perceived social norms, and self-efficacy expectations toward vitamin D supplement use.
Nutrition educators are exploring Web-based strategies for delivering course material. This report describes an effort to use computer-mediated communication between medical students and experts. A "virtual seminar" designed to help students apply nutrition knowledge to patient care was added to an existing traditional clinical skills course. There are few models for online nutrition education. Since these efforts are expensive in time, money, or both, it is important to share preliminary findings, including new methods of evaluating participation and effectiveness. Although medical student activity in the seminar was greater than anticipated, the return rate for the online evaluation survey was disappointing.
OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to develop a substantive theory expressing the meanings couples associated with eating fruits and vegetables.DESIGN:This inductive qualitative study was based on a grounded theory approach and employed the constant comparison method of data analysis. Data were collected using semistructured individual interviews and a life history approach.SUBJECTS:Ten adult couples, aged 20 to 60 years, with and without children, all of whom were born in North America, were recruited using modified snowball sampling.RESULTS:Two overarching themes emerged. The "should syndrome" describes a morality concerning fruit and vegetable consumption arising from a tension between the low status of these foods in participants' childhood homes and their contemporary idealized status. The creation of couple gastronomies expresses couples'efforts to construct their own food norms and practices within a context of changes in social norms and fruit and vegetable availability. The substantive theory, making choices that balance their lives, conveys the dynamic processes involved in participants' fruit and vegetable choices.IMPLICATIONS:Future research will determine the transferability of the "should syndrome" and new couples' receptiveness to trying new fruits and vegetables. Understanding the changing contexts of food choice may help nutrition professionals better support healthful eating.
The objective of this study was to investigate adolescents' perspectives about the environmental impacts of food production practices and whether these perspectives are related to their food choice. Food choice was operationalized as consumption and purchase of organic foods and locally grown foods. A survey questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of adolescents and analyzed for descriptive information and relationships among variables. Subjects were 651 ethnically diverse, urban and suburban high school senior students in a major metropolitan area. Variables of an Expanded Theory of Planned Behavior were measured including beliefs, attitudes, perceived social influences, motivation to comply, perceived behavioral control, self-identity, perceived responsibility, behavioral intention, and behavior. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression analyses were used. Surveyed adolescents did not have strong or consistent beliefs or attitudes about the environmental impact of food production practices. Cognitive-motivational processes were at work, however, since their perspectives were significantly correlated with behavioral intentions and food choice behaviors. Behavioral intention was best accounted for by attitudes and perceived social influences (and perceived responsibility for organic food), and behavior was best accounted for by behavioral intentions, beliefs, and perceived social influences (and self-identity for local food). There is a need to make salient to adolescents the environmental impact of food production practices through both cognitive and experiential approaches.
