Objective: Describe changes in Nutrition Educator (NE) and Extension Agent (EA) motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability over time after experiential food tasting curriculum training. Identify promoters of curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use.Design: Mixed methods design including surveys, lesson implementation reports, and interviews.Setting: New Mexico limited-resource schools.Participants: Convenience sample of New Mexico Extension NE (n = 42) and their EA supervisors (n = 21).Intervention: Three-hour curriculum training employing Social Cognitive Theory and Diffusion of Innovations.Main Outcome Measures: Perceived change in motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability from post-training through 8-month post-training; promoters and challenges to curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use.Analysis: Repeated-measures ANOVA analyzed perceived behavior change over time. Significance was set at P <=.05. Qualitative responses were categorized by theme.Results: Gains in NE motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability were sustained at 8 months post-training. High adoption/implementation rates (79%) were attributed to strong implementation expectations, observational learning, experiential training elements, and perceived curriculum compatibility. Environmental factors including time constraints, personnel turnover, and scheduling conflicts proved challenging.Conclusions and Implications: Maximizing curriculum simplicity and compatibility and incorporating behavioral capability, observational learning, and expectations into training support adoption and use. Adaptations and techniques to problem-solve challenges should be provided to new curricula implementers.

Effective nutrition education training should be guided by sound theory that specifically addresses behavior change. A 3-hour training was developed using diffusion of innovations (DOI) and social cognitive theories and formative assessment. Essential training components included interactive learning techniques and curriculum lesson practice. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze training satisfaction, paired samples t tests determined pre- to posttraining differences, and Pearson correlations and stepwise multiple regression were conducted to explore predictors of future curriculum use. Paraprofessional nutrition educators (NEs) and their supervisors rated the training high in acceptability, benefit, and clarity. NEs and supervisors improved knowledge about teaching the curriculum (t = 5.12, p < .01 and t = 8.31, p < .01, respectively), confidence (t = 3.93, p < .01 and t = 3.62, p < .01, respectively), motivation (t = 3.71, p < .01 and t = 2.63, p < .05, respectively), and information (t = 7.17, p < .01 and t = 4.15, p < .01, respectively) to teach the curriculum. The DOI attributes of relative advantage and trialability were correlated with intended future curriculum use by NEs (r = .577, p = .002 and r = .418, p = .027, respectively). Relative advantage was correlated with intended use by supervisors (r = .502, p = .040). These results underscore the importance of using both theory and formative assessment for successful training development.

Objective: To examine reliability of validity-tested instruments measuring fruit and vegetable (FV) preference and self-efficacy (SE) for and attitude (AT) toward cooking.Methods: In Santa Fe, New Mexico, following cognitive interviews with 123 fourth- and fifth-graders, surveys were administered twice, less than 2 weeks apart, to students in 16 classrooms without intervening nutrition education. Results were assessed using Pearson correlation coefficient. Cronbach alpha, marginal homogeneity, Wilcoxon, and paired t tests.Results: Individual test-retest scores were significantly (P < .001) correlated (n = 344; 72.9% Hispanic); r = 0.80 (SE), 0.82 (AT), and 0.88 (FV). Cronbach alpha was >= 0.74 for all survey administrations. Classroom test-retest scores were significantly correlated (SE r = 0.66, AT r = 0.88, and FV r = 0.92). Self-efficacy and AT toward cooking were higher in girls (P < .001).Conclusions and Implications: Validity-tested 8-item SE, 6-item AT, and 16-item FV surveys showed internal consistency and test-retest reliability and are suitable for impact assessment of cooking-based education interventions, specifically Cooking with Kids.

Traditional methods of delivering nutrition education emphasize knowledge acquisition; 1 Contento I.R. Balch G.I. Bronner Y.L. et al. The effectiveness of nutrition education and implications for nutrition education policy, programs, and research: a review of the research. J Nutr Educ Behav. 1995; 27: 279-418 Abstract Full Text PDF Scopus (3) Google Scholar however, hands-on experience with food is an engaging and effective strategy to teach healthful eating behaviors. 2 Contento I.R. Nutrition Education: Linking Research, Theory, and Practice. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA2007 Google Scholar , 3 Haden R. Pandora's lunchbox: on esthetic education, children, and food. Food Cult Soc. 2006; 9: 265-274 Google Scholar The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating recommend that school-based nutrition education programs use developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant activities, emphasize active learning and fun, and employ social learning techniques. 4 Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGuidelines for school health programs to promote lifelong healthy eating. MMWR Recomm Rep. 1996; 45: 1-47 Google Scholar

Fidelity of program delivery is an essential but often neglected aspect of research and educational programs' process evaluations (Davis, et al, 2000; Story, et al., 2000). This poster describes the development and testing of feasible and replicable observation forms to assess fidelity to a school-based classroom and cafeteria intervention.

Establish test-retest reliability for three surveys that measure preference for fruits and vegetables, attitude toward and self-efficacy for food preparation.