P99 Improved Self-efficacy and Nutrition Knowledge Among Indiana High School Teachers After Training in and Implementation of a New Nutrition Curriculum

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Professional development can improve teacher self-efficacy and knowledge to enhance their delivery of food guidance. This may result in improvements in students' knowledge about and skills for healthy eating. <h3>Objective</h3> To explore effects of a training on a nutrition curriculum, Forecasting Your Future: Nutrition Matters, on teachers' self-efficacy to teach nutrition and knowledge of 2015 Dietary Guidelines. To explore teachers' outcome expectations for students. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> Family and Consumer Sciences high school teachers were recruited for training at a state conference and divided into 9-strata based on school location and size, then randomly assigned to intervention (INT, n = 18) or control (CON, n = 18). INT were trained (spring 2018), then implemented the new curriculum in the classroom (fall 2018); CON implemented the usual curriculum. Both completed a 60-item pre-test (spring 2018) and 55-item post-test (late fall 2018). Follow-up semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted (n = 32) to expand on multi-opt results. Teachers answered 6 open-ended questions about outcome expectations for their students. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Survey data were analyzed by hierarchical linear modeling to determine whether changes from INT differed from CON for self-efficacy to teach nutrition and nutrition knowledge. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and imported into NVivo software, then thematically analyzed. <h3>Results</h3> After training then teaching the curriculum, INT had greater increases in nutrition knowledge of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines (<i>P</i> = .028) and self-efficacy to teach nutrition (<i>P</i> = .010) vs CON. Interviews with INT revealed they did not expect immediate behavior changes but hoped to affect students' future health by giving them the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy choices. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Professional development sessions and providing updated curricula has promise for improving teachers' nutrition knowledge and self-efficacy to teach nutrition. More research should be done on outcome expectations to guide future curriculum development.