P131 - Food Environments in the Classroom: Testing of an Experiential Learning Curriculum Intervention on Dietary Behavior

Abstract

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): Food environments are implicated as factors in adolescent food behaviors and choices. Objective: To explore the impact of adolescents evaluating their food environments (community, home, and school) on the adolescents' dietary behavior. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: Quasi-randomized control trial with two arms: food environment curriculum (n = 13) and food environment curriculum and environmental audit (n = 17) of high school wellness classes in one school in the southeastern U.S. (total participants = 30). The food environment intervention (FEI) was delivered as part of a required high school wellness course, with both intervention and comparison groups receiving the same nutrition and food environment lectures (twice weekly; total of 10 classes); the intervention group also conducted hands-on assessments of their own food environments over the five weeks outside of class using the Healthy Campus Environmental Audit (HCEA) tool. Fidelity testing was conducted in both classes to ensure lesson consistency in both arms. Outcome Measures and Analysis: The effects of the intervention were tested using pre-and post-health behaviors surveys [fruit and vegetable intake (FV) and meal patterns]. Analysis of variance and chi-square tests were conducted to evaluate differences between the two arms. Results: The baseline consumption of FV for both groups was 1.63 (SD = 2.64) cups daily. Only 36.7% of both groups met the recommendations for FV at baseline. There were no significant changes in FV or meal patterns after the intervention for either group. More variance was noted in the intervention group for change in weekly fast food intake from pre to post-test, with 18.75% decreasing consumption and 31.25% increasing consumption. Conclusions and Implications: This intervention, designed to increase awareness of food environment issues (with or without experiential food environment audits), was not effective in changing adolescent food behavior. Future research is needed to confirm or challenge the role of individuals' awareness of food environments as a non-factor in food behavior. Funding: NIFA.