Should Physical Activity Be Included in Nutrition Education? A Comparison of Nutrition Outcomes With and Without In-Class Activities

Limited-resource adults\u27 dietary intakes and nutrition behaviors improve as a result of Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) participation; however, physical activity education is needed for improved health. The experimental study reported here assessed if spending time doing physical activity education affected dietary impact results and activity among participants. Standard dietary assessments showed no significant differences between groups, and interviews showed greater physical activity improvements/intentions by the experimental group, which suggests that nutrition education can be shortened 15-20 minutes for physical activity demonstrations to improve activity behaviors without adversely affecting nutrition-related behavioral improvements outcomes

Identification of weight-control behaviors practiced by diverse groups of college students

This study investigated: 1) what weight-related behaviors college students practiced; 2) if the behaviors were performed for weight-related reasons; and 3) whether the behavioral practices differed by gender, race, and body weight status. This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire to collect information from a non-probability sample of undergraduate students (n=379; 48% men) recruited from large introductory psychology classes. Chi-square tests were conducted to examine simple comparisons, and multiple logistic regression analyses assessed differences. Male students reported adopting significantly fewer weight-related behaviors than females. Most frequently males increased exercise (69.2%), increased fruit and vegetable consumption (50%), skipped meals (46%), cut out sweets and junk foods (40%), and cut out between-meal snacks (35%). Female students most frequently increased exercise (67.4%), skipped meals (63%), increased fruit and vegetable consumption (62%), reduced the amount of food eaten (60%), and cut out between-meal snacks (51%). Negative behaviors were engaged in by only a few participants. Weight-related reasons were a significant factor for weight-related behavior adoption. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that gender was consistently and significantly associated with the adoption of weight-related behaviors, while race and weight status were less consistently associated. Findings of this study will be helpful to dietitians who counsel college students. Results of this study may support efforts to bring more comprehensive behaviorally-focused health and nutrition interventions to college campuses

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Content Analysis of Media Coverage of the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The study reported here examined the nature of the nutrition messages communicated by the media about the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Upon the release of the 1995 Guidelines, a mass media content analysis was conducted to determine the nature of the media messages communicated to the public. Media channels included were national and local newspapers, national television news and news type programs, magazines, and National Public Radio (NPR). Findings indicate that the Dietary Guidelines are not covered adequately by the media. Nutrition educators are encouraged to take a more active role in making their expertise available to the various media channels

Recommendations for Integrating Evidence-Based, Sustainable Diet Information into Nutrition Education

The adoption of more sustainable diets (SD) has the capacity to meet the needs of individuals without compromising future generations’ abilities to do the same. Nutrition educators are ideal candidates for delivering SD education to consumers, yet evidence-based recommendations for the profession have not been crafted. The results of a thorough, narrative review of the literature performed in 2021 suggest there are five well-supported recommendations nutrition educators should consider incorporating in their work. They are (1) shift towards a plant-based diet, (2) mitigate food waste, (3) limit consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), (4) engage in local food systems, and (5) choose sustainable seafood. Each recommendation is discussed below in detail, to provide nutrition educators with a nuanced scope of the issue, after which suggestions for the inclusion of these recommendations, using an example of the authors’ experiences from the US Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), are provided