Building Research Capacity for Teachers’ Preparedness in Nutrition and Health Education: A Systematic Review

The study determined the need for Nutrition and Health Education among members of different householdsin the urban city of Umuahia. Two research questions guided the study. A descriptive survey design wasemployed for the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire and validated.The questionnaire elicited information on the demographic characteristics of the household members,information on the need for health and nutrition education to be promoted and the expected skills necessaryfor the nutrition and health education. Multistage cluster sampling technique was adopted to elicitinformation from 400 respondents from 90 households. The reliability of the instrument was ascertainedusing Pearson product moment correlation coefficient which yielded a reliability index of 0.63. The datacollected were analyzed using mean to answer question one and two. The result of the showed that householdmembers within Umuahia have an agreeable level of nutrition education knowledge. Item No 9 with a meanof 1. 65 indicate that good job may not necessarily depend on knowledge of health and nutrition education.While answer to research question two showed that these households do not utilize these skills in promotinghealth and nutrition education knowledge. The target population area is Umuahia south and North L.G.A.added to support estimated level of nutrition education among households. The study recommended thatregular advocacy on health and nutrition education be organized by independent, non-governmental andgovernmental agencies to enhance and promote family and national development.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which has been operating in the all districts of Punjab for decades. Nutrition and Health Education component of ICDS had been evaluated in the light of the objectives, to know the methods for imparting Nutrition and Health Education activities, to know on what basis Nutrition and Health Education was given and to identify the problems facing in organizing Health and Nutrition Education. For this study, all three ICDS projects; namely Barnala ICDS project, Sehna ICDS project and Mehal Kalan ICDS project were selected from Barnala district of Punjab. A total of 30 Anganwadis (10 from each ICDS project) were selected on the basis of random. It was also found that 43.33% of the AWWs considered lack of interest among women as main problem to organize NHED session. It was shocking to note that a high majority (80%) AWWs did not receive any help and guidance from supervisor to organize NHED during this period. It is also disappointing to find that a high majority (86.67%) of the beneficiary women did not regularly attend NHED session

Nutrition education in school may positively affect students' eating behaviour. Teachers need to be empowered to teach nutrition, but no studies have investigated teachers' views on this topic in Saudi Arabia. This study investigated the perspective of teachers on nutrition education and their confidence in teaching it in boys' public high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2015, 80 boys' public high schools were randomly selected from four areas of Riyadh, and 80 teachers (biological sciences, physical education and health education teachers) were interviewed using a validated questionnaire. A Fisher exact test was run to test the relationship between teachers' perspective and confidence level, and their subject taught. Almost all the teachers (98%) agreed that the health education curriculum should be taught as a core subject for high-school students. Most of the teachers (89%) were interested in teaching nutrition. However, 64% indicated that they did not have adequate nutrition curricular materials and 70% considered that they had not received adequate training on nutrition education. However, 89% were confident that their students would be interested in nutrition and that such education would change their dietary behaviour. Science and health education teachers were more interested in teaching nutrition and were more confident in their ability to do so than physical education teachers (P < 0.05). Most of the teachers were interested in teaching nutrition but barriers existed, such as lack of training and teaching materials, which affected teachers' confidence in delivering nutrition education in their curricula.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nutrition and sexual health education on healthy lifestyle behaviours of teacher candidates (HLSB). In the research, a quasi-experimental research one-group pretest–posttest design, a quantitative research method, was used. The sample of the study consisted of 60 pre-service teachers studying at the science education department of a public university. The data were gathered by Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours (HLSB) Scale-II. It was determined that the levels of healthy lifestyle behaviours of the participants in both groups were low and close to each other before intervention. According to the results of nutrition education obtained from the research, there was found a significant difference in the average scores of the HLSB scale for the intervention group. They differed significantly by subscales and the overall score of HLSB except for the “Interpersonal Relations” subscale. The effect of given nutrition education on students’ healthy lifestyle behavior levels was found to be 'very high'. According to the results related to sexual health education, healthy lifestyle behavior levels only differed in “Health Responsibility” subscale. In the study, no significant difference was found between the post-test scores of the students in both the nutrition and sexual health education groups. This result is interpreted that nutrition education and sexual education are similarly effective in students' healthy lifestyle behaviors. This result shows that “health education” should be reconsidered in accordance with today's health understanding defined as biopsychosocial. In order for students to develop healthy lifestyle behaviors, both nutrition education and sexual health education should be given. Article visualizations:

A range of nutrition education strategies are used to assist athletes to improve nutrition knowledge. Evaluation of nutrition education interventions guides the delivery of efficacious nutrition education for athletes. Our aim was to systematically review sport/general nutrition education interventions delivered to athletes, and to evaluate their effectiveness. A search was conducted using terms related to nutrition knowledge, athletes, education, and intervention. Included studies had to be conducted in athletes (all calibres), use a scored nutrition knowledge assessment tool, and measure knowledge before and after a nutrition education intervention. Peer-reviewed and unpublished theses were included. Thirty-two manuscripts (randomised controlled trial, n = 13; single-arm pre/post design, n = 19) met the inclusion criteria. Participants (n = 2180; mean age 17.4 ± 1.7years) were mostly female (66.1%), university-level (56.3%) athletes based in the US (75%). Comparison of different education methods was limited since the majority of interventions (n = 28/36, 77.8%) used face-to-face education. Most intervention conditions (n = 19) had a total contact time of < 300min (5h). The majority of interventions (n = 30, 85.7%) reported significant knowledge improvement, with a mean increase of 16.1 ± 0.7% (mean effect size 1.72; range 0.4-17.1). Only 15.6% of studies used well-validated knowledge assessment tools (more than three types of validity or reliability testing). Most interventions reported a significant improvement in nutrition knowledge. Unfortunately, the wide range of knowledge assessment tools with limited validation, and the predominant use of face-to-face interventions, prohibits identification of the most effective modality and dose for nutrition education in athletes.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of a school-based nutrition and media education intervention on the promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption to help prevent childhood obesity. The 10-week-long intervention included sessions on nutrition education and media literacy. It also included a health communication media-based campaign workshop during which the children created posters, newsletters and video commercials related to fruits and vegetables targeted to their parents. For evaluation purposes, the study utilized a mixed-methods approach, including a quasi-experimental study (with one intervention group and one control group) and a focus group study. Four different elementary schools in Treviso (Veneto Region of Italy) agreed to participate in the research. The target population for the study included 10-year-old Italian children and their parents. Data indicate that this intervention was effective for children but not for parents. Evaluation results show that the intervention was effective in significantly increasing children's fruit and vegetable intake (P<0·05) and all psychosocial determinants (P<0·05). The study results confirm the efficacy of a school-based health and media education intervention to address the children's obesity issue and, in particular, to increase children's fruit and vegetable intake. The study also opens a new perspective on the theoretical constructs investigated, because the development of 'ability of expression' could be considered one of the most important factors to determine the efficacy of the intervention.

Although the role of health education is widely recognized in promoting and maintaining of a good health status, it can be noticed that a fairly large proportion of children - youngers and adults - do not express basic knowledge and skills concerning health and food education. In this respect, an important component of health education - nutrition education - seen as a conjunction of various educational strategies, together with a clear environmental support, designed to make easier and with full knowledge the food choices and nutrition related behaviors, with the view to promote health and well-being, becomes “a must” and a real urgency in the process of educating children and teen-agers. Answering to the actual needs concerning the strengthening of the importance of nutrition education in schools, the Erasmus+ European project entitled “Raising the Awareness of the Triad Nutrition-Health-Food Safety in School Education”, proposed a 15-credits teacher training program entitled: “Modern Approaches in Health Education” - consisted of two sections: (a) Innovative Aspects related to Teaching and Learning in Health Education, and (b) Actual Challenges in Food Science - which tried to enrich the primary and secondary teachers’ knowledge concerning food and related issues, to present suitable pedagogical strategies for designing health education activities and to produce didactic materials and guidelines able to sustain the optimal projection of teaching activities. In this sense, the paper tries to illustrate the feedback offered by the Romanian trained teachers, related to the entire training process, expressed at the moment of their graduation.

The present study was undertaken to assess the impact of nutrition education on the dietary behaviour and the haemoglobin status of the rural adolescent girls. The study was conducted on the 60 (sixty) anaemic rural adolescent girls aged between 13-16 years studying in the rural government senior secondary schools of Moga district of Punjab state. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the relevant information. Part I of the interview schedule comprised questions regarding general information on type of family, family size, occupation, age, educational level and income of the family. Part II of the interview schedule comprised questions regarding the dietary pattern and general health and hygiene practices followed by the adolescents. Nutritional status of the adolescent girls was assessed by anthropometric parameters (Height and weight), clinical examinations, hemoglobin status and dietary survey. After collecting the above said pre-requisite information, the sample (n = 60) was further divided into two groups namely intervention and control group (n = 30). For the experimental group, nutrition education intervention was given fortnightly for a period of three months. The nutrition education strategy was aimed at motivating adolescent girls to understand their nutritional vulnerability and to improve their diets to benefit their health and well being. The control group was not exposed to any formal nutrition education. After the three months intervention programme, part-II of the interview schedule was again administered to collect the relevant information. Nutritional status of the both intervention and control groups was also assessed. Data collected was analyzed by applying frequency, percentages, Chi-square and ttest. The results revealed that the nutrition education intervention proved to be successful in changing the attitude and dietary behaviour of the rural girls. Significant improvement was observed in the dietary pattern of the girls. Significant increase in weight gain (2.4 kg) was observed in the intervention group. A marked increase in the height and haemoglobin of the intervention group was also observed but was statistically non-significant. However, the change was towards the increasing trend. Hence, from the study it could be concluded that nutrition education is one of the appropriate effective and sustainable approach to combat iron deficiency anaemia.

The LSU AgCenter Healthy Communities Initiative: Community-Participatory Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change

Lack of nutritional knowledge and dietary behavior may hinder health status and athletic performance. Research indicates that general nutritional knowledge is vital to lead a healthy life and to improve the achievements in sports field. The study compared the effects of six months nutrition education intervention on the sports nutrition knowledge of women athletes. Ninety physical education students, 18-22 years of age were randomly selected. Nutrition education was imparted for 30 minutes each week for six months through power point presentation, poster and formal classes. The initial nutrition knowledge was assessed using a pretested questionnaire which included 40 questions to assess nutrition knowledge, sports nutrition, macro and micro nutrients and hydration. The average nutrition knowledge before giving nutrition education was 55% which increased to 75% after intervention. These students lacked basic nutrition awareness. After imparting nutrition education, their knowledge increased significantly (t&lt;37.858). This study suggests that nutrition education intervention positively influences the nutrition knowledge of the athletes’ improvement in nutrition knowledge of the women athletes could improve their interest in nutrition and provide insights into good eating practices and information to the right food choices and thus improve the sports performance. The nutrition education thus contributes most effectively to better understanding of nutritional concepts and could improve health and nutritional status.

BackgroundThis study was carried out to compare the effect between nutrition education intervention and non-nutrition education intervention on awareness regarding iron deficiency among schooling adolescents in Tanah Merah, one of rural district in Kelantan, Malaysia.Methods:This study which was started in year 2010 involved 280 respondents (223 girls, 57 boys, age: 16 yr) from schools in Tanah Merah. The selection criteria were based on hemoglobin level (Hb = 7 – 11.9 g/dL for girls; Hb = 7 – 12.9 g/dL for boys). They were divided into 2 groups. The first group received nutrition education package (Nutrition education, NE), whereas another group was entitled to receive non-nutrition education intervention (Non-Nutrition Education, NNE) (supplement only). Both interventions were implemented for 3 months. The changes in awareness among respondents of both groups were evaluated using multi-choices questionnaire.Results:Nutrition education receiver group (NE) demonstrated improvement in awareness at post-intervention. No substantial improvement was demonstrated by the counterpart group (NNE).Conclusion:Multimedia nutrition education program conducted at school setting was in fact practical and effective in improving awareness on iron deficiency among anemic adolescents.

BackgroundIndia suffers from significant undernourishment, alongside obesity at concerning levels. Both poor diet and health education contribute to this, we developed a pilot local capacity building research project to apply...

P93 - Contributing Factors for Effective Nutrition Education Interventions in Children: A Systematic Review

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of the Market to MyPlate (M2MP) program on participants' reported farmers' market (FM) attitudes and shopping behaviours, frequency of serving vegetables to their families, food resource management behaviours and food security. A secondary objective was to identify facilitators and barriers to shopping at FM and food waste reduction techniques used by low-income families. The current study used a mixed methods evaluation embedded within a cluster randomised trial of the M2MP intervention. The 7-week M2MP program was delivered at Extension offices and community centres in central Illinois. Participants included 120 adults and their families. Class cohorts were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) nutrition education and cooking classes with produce allocations (PAE, n 39); (2) nutrition education and cooking classes only (EO, n 36) or (3) control group (n 45). Compared with control participants, PAE participants were significantly more likely to report shopping at FM (P = 0·029) and reported serving more vegetables to their families (P = 0·010) (EO participants did not differ from the control group on any outcomes). There were no differences between conditions in survey-based measures of food security or food resource management behaviours. Interview results describe facilitators and barriers to shopping at FM and a variety of food waste reduction techniques (including food placement and food resource management). These findings suggest that fresh produce provision coupled with nutrition and culinary education can positively impact shopping and dietary behaviours.

Nutrition education: the way to reduce childhood obesity?