FP17 Changes in Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior After Implementation of Serving Up MyPlate and Vegetable Taste Tests

Abstract

Objective Improve student nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and consumption of legumes, dark green, and red/orange vegetables after implementation of nutrition education and taste test activities in the classroom. Description The Wisconsin Team Nutrition program works to promote nutrition education in schools to create environments that are conducive to the development of healthy behaviors related to food and nutrition. In an effort to increase nutrition knowledge and positively influence dietary habits of students, Wisconsin Team Nutrition provided funding to ten schools to implement nutrition education and taste testing activities in third and fourth grade classrooms. Students were taught using the We Are What We Eat lessons from the United States Department of Agriculture Team Nutrition's Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum and tasted recipes containing foods from the dark green, red/orange, and legume subgroups. Evaluation Surveys were used to measure changes in students’ nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Electronic surveys were distributed to participating classes with instructions to complete before and after implementation of the nutrition education lessons and taste testing activities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze pre versus post nutrition education changes in students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Conclusion and Implications Incorporating nutrition education and taste testing activities improved students’ attitudes towards legumes and increased self-reported consumption of dark green vegetables. In addition, students demonstrated an increase in nutrition knowledge between pre-survey and post-survey. Results support the implementation of nutrition education and/or taste testing activities in the classroom to improve student nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Future interventions should investigate the impact between nutrition education with and without taste testing. Grant Year 2016