Strategies

Nutrition education presented in an afterschool, classroom setting, which will include a one-hour mini-lecture followed by a one-hour hands-on meal preparation and skills training in each lesson. Nutrition educators will present one, two-hour lesson per week, over an eight week period, for a total of eight sessions and 16 hours of instruction.

• Trained nutrition educators will develop informational slides to guide each mini lecture, as well as worksheets to test the participants’ understanding of the information presented, and various print materials for students and their families to reference, which includes the information presented during the lesson. This information will be based upon the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, focusing on the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables for children ages 5-11.
  • “Mini-lecture” will provide participants with the information and knowledge to support increased awareness of healthy food options in the school setting, to lead to increased fruit and vegetable consumption and healthier overall dietary behaviors.
    • Level of influence: Interpersonal
  • The students’ engagement/participation in the lessons will be measured through weekly worksheets that they will have to complete and submit to the nutrition educator, as well as a final survey that they will complete in week 8 of the program, to indicate what they have learned over the previous eight sessions. By completing worksheets at the end of each lessons, students will test their knowledge and improve their understanding of the lesson content.
    • Level of influence: Individual
  • The take home materials will provide parents and families with nutrition and food access related information, to foster greater awareness and understanding amongst those who are responsible for providing the students with food options at home.
    • Level of influence: Environmental
• Basic food preparation and culinary skills training will provide participants with an increased sense of self-efficacy and ability to prepare healthy meals and snacks independently, thus increasing healthy eating habits at home.
  • Level of influence: Interpersonal
• Taste testing opportunities, of the foods that the students have prepared themselves, will expose the participants to a broader variety of fruits and vegetables, and will support increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in and outside of the program.
  • Level of influence: Interpersonal
• The nutrition educators will develop a pre-program and post-program food frequency questionnaire, that students will take prior to week 1 of the program and following week 8 of the program, respectively.
  • Data collection through pre- and post- program food frequency questionnaires will provide the program developers with an understanding of the program impact and effectiveness, and can inform the expansion and improvement of the program in the future.
    • Level of influence: Organizational
• The nutrition educators will develop a survey that students will take in week 8 of the program to measure the impact of the program. This survey will also serve as a mechanism to assess the nutrition educators’ fidelity to the program content.
  • Level of influence: Organizational

 

 

Theory-Based Rationale for Proposed Strategies

• Social Cognitive Theory: This program will address the personal level of influence by using the mini-lectures and food preparation skills training to address barriers related to fruit and vegetable consumption and enhance self-efficacy. The behavioral level of influence will be targeted through the food and nutrition related knowledge and skills presented and gained during each lesson, and the environmental level of influence is addressed by preparing students to make healthy decisions in the school cafeteria, amongst peers, and away from the home.
• Health Action Process Approach Model: This program will support self-efficacy, address perceived risk by including information that shares why fruit and vegetable consumption is related to reduced risk of obesity and diabetes, guiding students through the implementation phase of planned behavior, helping students develop routines related to healthy food choices in the cafeteria and at home, and will facilitate a supportive environment.