Influences of a Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Curriculum Called “Live!” on Fat and Fiber Knowledge and Attitudes of Black and White Adolescents

Abstract

A 6-week curriculum, “Live!”: Eat Less Fat and More Fiber, was tested in the food and consumer sciences classes of four middle schools in Tallahassee, Florida. The curriculum, composed of five lesson units, focused on building a knowledge base for the prevention of nutrition-related chronic diseases and also included a segment that emphasized the development of low-fat and high-fiber cooking skills. Content building within the curriculum followed a model published by the Society for Nutrition Education called “The Process of Nutrition Education (PNE),” in which five instructional strategies and eight behavioral change factors are recommended for achieving intended nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Results of pre- and post-tests, based on the eight study variables, showed that the “Live!” curriculum significantly (p < .05) increased knowledge about reduced-fat cooking among children (n = 266) in the four test schools, but that this knowledge remained unchanged in the control school children (n = 75). In addition, significant (p < .05) gain scores were obtained for at least four of the lesson units in three of the four test schools. Interestingly, certain “Live!” lesson units tended to produce higher knowledge gain scores among black (n = 194) than among white (n = 147) students. The researchers concluded that the “Live!” curriculum is effective in educating adolescents in this study sample about the prevention of nutrition-related diseases.