Assessment of the Mission Nutrition nutrition education program.

Abstract

In 1998, Dietitians of Canada and the team of registered dietitians at Kellogg Canada Inc. partnered to develop Mission Nutrition, a national bilingual nutrition education program that provides curriculum-based resources to teachers. The main objectives of this study were to measure the awareness and utility of the Mission Nutrition program among elementary teachers, and to identify opportunities to enhance the Mission Nutrition resources to increase use. A ten-minute telephone survey was conducted with a representative sample of 203 elementary school teachers. A sub-sample of 20 teachers then participated in a more in-depth 30-minute telephone survey. A need for increased promotion of the Mission Nutrition program was identified on the basis of the 22% awareness among teachers participating in the initial interview. All teachers who had used the educator guides and student activity sheets reported that they would use them again. Teachers found that the Mission Nutrition materials were well-researched and contained useful activities relevant to students. The findings indicate that, to be most effective, nutrition education resources should be provided in a ready-to-use format and integrated with core curricula. Teachers also suggested that materials should include fresh ideas to engage students at different grade levels, and ways to involve parents. Dietitians are ideally positioned to work collaboratively with educators to develop these types of nutrition education resources.