Improving Nutrition Education in U.S. Elementary Schools: Challenges and Opportunities

Poor food choices in childhood are core contributors to obesity and chronic diseases during adolescence and adulthood. Food choices and dietary behaviors develop in childhood and are difficult to change in adulthood. Nutrition education in elementary schools can provide children with the information and skills to develop healthy food choices and dietary behaviors. Current approaches for teaching nutrition and dietary behavior are largely ineffective to change elementary school students’ food choices. Using a cross-sectional, anonymous mail survey, we asked classroom teachers how to improve nutrition education in 17 Oregon elementary schools. Among 106 teachers who responded, most perceived that nutrition education in elementary school is very to somewhat important (97%) and can improve students’ food choices long-term (53%) or at least short-term (16%). Teachers noted multiple barriers for nutrition education, the primary being competing academic expectations (52%), lack of available time (48%), lack of suitable curricula (36%), and a food environment at school and home that does not reinforce what is taught in the classroom. Teachers preferred nutrition education that is integrated into the math, science, and/or English curriculum (54%) and includes a school cafeteria component (70%) and parent participation (53%). In conclusion, there is insufficient time and incentive to teach nutrition education as stand-alone curriculum. Renewed focus should be on developing and implementing nutrition education programs that are integrated in the math, science, and/or English curriculum and that involve and target also the food environment. Unless the food environment at school and home reinforce what is being taught in the classroom, nutrition education will have limited impact on student’s food choices. Keywords: Childhood obesity, Curriculum, Elementary school teachers, Food choices, Food Environment, Nutrition educatio

Changes in Sport Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes/Beliefs and Behaviors Following a Two-Year Sport Nutrition Education and Life-Skills Intervention among High School Soccer Players

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a sport nutrition education and life-skills intervention on sport nutrition knowledge (SNK), attitudes/beliefs and dietary behaviors relevant to sport nutrition among high school (HS) soccer players. Three assessments were done over the 2-year intervention (baseline = time 1, end year 1 = time 2, end year 2 = time 3). Participants (n = 217; females = 64%; Latino = 47.5%; 14.9 ± 0.9-year; 46.5% National School Breakfast/Lunch Program) were assigned to an intervention group (IG, n = 153; 9 schools) or comparison group (CG, n = 64; 4 schools) based on geographical location. Differences over time were examined based on group, sex, socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity. The IG increased SNK scores by ~10% (time 1 = 51.6%; time 3 = 60.9%; p ≤ 0.001), with the greatest change in the female IG vs. CG and no differences in male IG vs. CG. Daily breakfast consumption was 53.7% in both groups. IG players were 3 times more likely (95%CI = 2.59, 7.77) to report trying to eat for performance (IG = 48.7% vs. CG = 30.2%). By time 3, IG players were less likely to report that \u27diet met nutritional requirements\u27 (31.6%) compared to CG (47.6%). For IG, the consumption of lunch (≥5-days/week) did not change (92.2⁻93.4%), but declined in the CG (90.6%) (p = 0.04). No other differences by sub-population (race/ethnicity, SES) were observed. Our findings indicate that HS athletes are motivated to learn and improve diet behaviors, and benefit from team-based nutrition interventions. Future interventions should consider delivery of curriculum/experiential learning during a defined training period, with messages reinforced with supports at home, school and athletic settings

Psychological determinants of physical activity

The transition from high school (HS) to college can prove to be a difficult one for many HS students. In becoming acclimated within the academic and social realm of a college experience the individual is offered an opportunity to develop many lifestyle habits such as diet, sleep and most notably physical activity (PA) 1. Most attention addressing health concerns is placed on health indicators attuned to the college environment. However valid, such reasoning overlooks that in 2007 only 18% of 9-12th graders met the 60-minute recommendation for PA2. It also looks over the reality that sedentary behavior increases with the age of the adolescent 3. Youth athletes provide a unique opportunity in developing healthy eating habits and sustainable levels of PA, since they are often predisposed to unhealthier eating habits in HS due to their high levels of PA. As a result, a youth athlete may experience new health challenges when entering college as a traditional student, where structured PA is no longer a part of their daily life

Influence of Parenting Practices on Eating Behaviors of Early Adolescents during Independent Eating Occasions: Implications for Obesity Prevention

Among early adolescents (10–14 years), poor diet quality along with physical inactivity can contribute to an increased risk of obesity and associated biomarkers for chronic disease. Approximately one-third of United States (USA) children in this age group are overweight or obese. Therefore, attention to factors affecting dietary intake as one of the primary contributors to obesity is important. Early adolescents consume foods and beverages during eating occasions that occur with and without parental supervision. Parents may influence eating behaviors of early adolescents during eating occasions when they are present or during independent eating occasions by engaging in practices that affect availability of foods and beverages, and through perceived normative beliefs and expectations for intake. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to describe the influence of parenting practices on eating behaviors in general and when specifically applied to independent eating occasions of early adolescents. This information may be helpful to inform parenting interventions targeting obesity prevention among early adolescents focusing on independent eating occasions

Exploration of Gardening Team-Building Workshop Interest in High School Athletes

It has been found that youth who are involved in their own growing and harvesting of produce and also prepare and cook their own meals have been found to be more likely to consume the vegetables and meals they themselves cook and prepare. Many youth are not consuming the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. Youth who are involved in growing and harvesting their own produce as well as preparing their own meals are more likely to consume the vegetables (Block K.et la, 2012). With the help of our project, we will be able to implement a gardening team building workshop that will expose the student athletes to the health benefits or gardening and consuming raw and fresh vegetables. As part of the larger study named the WAVE~Ripples for Change Project, the URAP project aims to design a gardening workshop to increase 14-19 years old high school male and female adolescent athletes’ basic gardening skills to support the achievement and maintenance of healthy active lifestyles. A literature review using the keywords “gardening, health benefits, and high school athletes” resulted in three related studies. Three key informant interviews were also conducted in person and via the phone to learn about field experts’ thoughts on the best practices and recommendations in implementing an age-appropriate gardening workshop to high school adolescents. Based on these findings, a 10-question self-administered paper and pencil survey was developed to understand student’s gardening experience and their interest level in participating in a gardening team-building workshop during the Fall Term. This survey is being administered at a current basic cooking team-building workshop of the WAVE Project in May 2016

Bowel movement tracking raised students’ awareness for healthy eating

The condition of a bowel movement is closely reflective of a person's current diet. The Tech-I/O Project utilized the OSU MyPlate smartphone/website application designed to raise awareness of dietary intake and output among college students at OSU

Bowel movement tracking raised students’ awareness for healthy eating

The condition of a bowel movement is closely reflective of a person's current diet. The Tech-I/O Project utilized the OSU MyPlate smartphone/website application designed to raise awareness of dietary intake and output among college students at OSU

Food and Nutrition Extension Programs: Next Generation Impact Evaluation

Grassroots stakeholder input results in relevant and timely Extension programs, but presents a challenge for performance measurement using common indicators. A balanced approach to program evaluation and reporting that is adequately valid and reliable while honoring the Extension culture of service is most likely to be successful. This article reviews recent advances in evaluation methodology of food and nutrition programs. It further describes how this evidence base informs the current set of national Extension program outcomes and indicators. Evaluation work is an essential step in documenting the public value of Extension programs

WAVE pilot study: Creation of education tools to promote proper body composition analysis and body image awareness

Background: The Wave~Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in High-School Soccer Players research project is a 5-Y USDA funded project focused on building healthy nutrition, physical activity and life skills for healthy weight maintenance. The intervention includes providing face-to-face sport nutrition, physical activity and life- skills lessons, assessments of body composition, physical activity, and nutrition, and on-line immersive learning to reinforce the lessons. Objective: Develop two lessons to educate youth soccer players (age=14-19y): 1) For males, the focus is body weight and composition, and factors related to building/retaining muscle mass to reduce risk of inappropriate diet and supplement use; 2) For females, the focus is body image and associated issues about body weight and performance to reduce the risk of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Method: Review the research literature and identify key body composition and body image issues unique to males and females, especially active high school youth. Then develop two different lessons that will encompass the needs of each gender utilizing photos, online capabilities and common misconceptions about food, exercise and body size. Results: Research shows that active males are more interested in gaining weight, specifically muscle mass, which increases the risk of using unhealthy diets and supplements promising increased in muscle mass. Active females are more interested in being thin and small stature, which can lead to disordered eating and body image issues. Two educational lessons were developed to address the different weight and body composition issues identified for each group. For the males, the lesson focuses on understanding body composition and how it is measured, the impact of body composition on health and performance, and factors that improve body composition, including appropriate diet and exercise recommendations. For the females, the lesson focuses on understanding body composition and image, and how inappropriate beliefs about body shape and size increases the risk of body dissatisfaction. Approaches to improve body image and satisfaction are presented and discussed. Conclusions: Lessons will be tested on the WAVE pilot study high school soccer players (n=26). Based on feedback from students, changes will be made to the lessons prior to program delivery to the larger intervention study beginning in fall 2015

WAVE Project: Sport Nutrition Education Resources

The WAVE~Ripples for Change: Obesity Prevention in Active Youth (WAVE) project’s primary objective is to prevent unhealthy weight gain among high school athletes through healthy eating and reduced sedentary time. Educators are familiar with the myriad of challenges in presenting nutrition, diet, and physical activity information to high school students. WAVE uses adolescent athletes’ interest in sport to draw them into the topic of sport nutrition and healthy eating; helping them apply the knowledge and skills they learned in class, on the field, and in their lives. WAVE developed and field-tested an after-school program for high school athletes that includes 7 sport nutrition lessons (30 to 45 minutes each) and 3 team-building, family and consumer sciences life-skill workshops. WAVE also developed a cloud-based data management system to support the tracking of learner profiles, survey administration, big data visualization, and automated health report generation