Importance Of Nutrition Education Research Articles

Nutrition Education in Food Pantries: Perceptions of Pantry Personnel towards Implementation

Extension programming can be effective at delivering nutrition education to food pantry clients. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of food pantry personnel towards nutrition education. A mixed methods survey was administered to food pantry personnel (n=53). Most (62.3%) reported their food pantry was church-affiliated, and few (22.6%) reported any Extension collaboration. Qualitative themes included perceptions that nutrition education was resource intensive, clients were not interested in nutrition education, and differing attitudes towards nutrition education. When working with food pantries, Extension should educate personnel about the importance of nutrition education, offer resources, and facilitate programming.

Supply of energy and selected nutrients in meals consumed by Moroccan students at home and on a university campus.

Student life is often accompanied by changes in eating behavior. Adopting a balanced and varied diet and healthy eating habits can promote the health, growth and intellectual development of young people at different stages of life. According to the WHO, a healthy diet helps protect against all forms of malnutrition, as well as against noncommunicable diseases. The nutritional and energy intake must follow nutritional norms, for example energy intake must be adapted to expenditure. To avoid excessive weight gain, fat should not exceed 30% of total energy intake. The goal of this study was to compare energy consumption, macronutrients and selected minerals in food rations consumed by students at university campus and at home. The subjects were chosen at random from among volunteer students from Hassan II University in Casablanca. A sample of 130 students (54 women and 76 men) aged 18 to 25, participated in this study. Anthropometric measurements were performed to assess general characteristics, and records of one-day food intakes at university and at the parental home were performed by 24-hour food diary, and as well as conducting face-to-face. Variables were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of data. In accordance with the body mass index classifications, 69.5% of male university students and 77.7% of female were in normal weight categories. The overweight classes were 25.1% and 5.6%, respectively, for men and women. Assessment of the energy and nutritional intakes of university and home meals shows that students consume more calories, protein, carbohydrates, sodium, potassium, and iodine at home than at university, but these contributions remain insufficient in relation to the RDAs. Students consume more fat, especially saturated fatty acids, at university than at home. More than half of students exceed the recommended daily recommendations for saturated fatty acids. These results indicate that a university students' diet is influenced by their behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge. Hence the importance of nutrition education, based on what foods to consume rather than what foods to avoid, a societal issue that requires a multidisciplinary, multisectoral and culturally appropriate approach.

Effect of Nutrition Education in NAFLD Patients Undergoing Simultaneous Hyperlipidemia Pharmacotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have a high prevalence of combined hyperlipidemia. The importance of nutritional education is well-known in NAFLD, but the impact of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is unclear in patients with NAFLD with hyperlipidemia. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of MNT on the improvement of steatohepatitis in patients with NAFLD taking antihyperlipidemic medications. Methods: Nondiabetic patients with dyslipidemia were prospectively randomized (1:1) either to the MNT group or the control group with standard advice for 48 weeks with simultaneous statin/ezetimibe combination pharmacotherapy at three tertiary centers in Korea. Results: Sixty-six patients were enrolled. Among them, 18 patients dropped out and, overall, 48 patients (MNT group 27, control group 21) were prospectively analyzed in the study. The serum ALT level at 48 weeks between the two groups was not significantly different (66.6 ± 37.7 IU/L vs. 57.4 ± 36.7 IU/L, p = 0.40). Serum liver enzymes, controlled attenuation parameter and fibrosis-4 index were significantly improved within the MNT group after 48 weeks compared to baseline. There was no significant difference between the two groups other than the NAFLD fibrosis score (p = 0.017). Conclusions: Although there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of steatosis, metabolic and fibrosis surrogate indicators after 48 weeks, MNT groups showed significant improvement within patient analysis over time. Future studies with a larger number of subjects and a longer study period regarding the effect of MNT are warranted.

The Importance of Nutrition Education in Achieving Food Security and Adequate Nutrition of the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh*

AbstractNutrition‐sensitive social protection that enhances household resources and nutrition knowledge can be an important avenue of addressing food security and nutrition concerns of the poor. This paper studies the impact of a cluster randomized intervention of cash or food transfers, with‐or‐without nutrition behavioural change communication (BCC), on food security and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh. We find that the addition of the BCC to transfers led to the greatest impact on the quantity and quality of food consumed by household members, especially women and children. The addition of BCC also had the greatest impact in reducing the incidence and intensity of deprivations measured using a nutrition‐sensitive multidimensional poverty index. Evidence suggests this occurs through the BCC inducing increased consumption of flesh food, egg, dairy, fruits and vegetables and through investments in housing, sanitation and assets.

Effect of Nutrition Education on Diet Quality, Sustainable Nutrition and Eating Behaviors among University Students

Objective Nutrition information is provided by proper nutrition education and nutrition education programs have a direct impact on nutrition knowledge and behavior. This study aims to determine the effect of nutrition education on diet quality, sustainable nutrition and eating behavior. Design Cross-sectional survey. Participants The study was carried out on a total of 204 individuals, 21 males and 183 females, who were studying in the 3rd and 4th grades of Başkent University Faculty of Health Sciences. Main outcome measures Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) score calculated with the Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR) was used to evaluate the diet quality. ‘Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behaviors Scale’ was applied to measure sustainable and healthy eating behaviors. Analysis A questionnaire including personal information and anthropometric measurements of the individuals and a 24-hour dietary recall was taken. Food consumption records were evaluated using the Nutrition Information System. In order to evaluate the quality of the diet, the Mean Adequacy Ratio (MAR) score calculated with the Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR) was used. ‘Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behaviors Scale’ was applied to measure sustainable and healthy eating behaviors. SPSS 20.0 package program was applied to evaluate the data. Results In the study, 47.5% of the individuals were educated in Nutrition and Dietetics program and 52.5% were in other programs. The diet quality of 44.8% of the individuals studying in the Nutrition and Dietetics program and 56.4% of the individuals studying in the other programs were determined as ‘good’ according to the MAR levels classification. No significant difference was found in terms of MAR levels of individuals according to the departments they read (p > 0.05). The average score of the ‘Healthy and Balanced Nutrition’ factor in the scale of sustainable and healthy eating behaviors was higher in individuals who were studying in the Nutrition and Dietetics program. The average scores of ‘Seasonal Food’ and ‘Low Fat’ factor were found to be significantly higher in girls studying in the Nutrition and Dietetics program (p < 0.05). Conclusion It was determined that nutrition education is effective on sustainable and healthy eating behaviors. Considering the importance of nutrition education on the health of individuals and sustainable environment, it is of great importance in terms of public health to increase the awareness of the society on this issue.

Why nutrition education is inadequate in the medical curriculum: a qualitative study of students\u2019 perspectives on barriers and strategies

BackgroundThe provision of nutrition care by doctors is important in promoting healthy dietary habits, and such interventions can lead to reductions in disease morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. However, medical students and doctors report inadequate nutrition education and preparedness during their training at school. Previous studies investigating the inadequacy of nutrition education have not sufficiently evaluated the perspectives of students. In this study, students’ perspectives on doctors’ role in nutrition care, perceived barriers, and strategies to improve nutrition educational experiences are explored.MethodsA total of 23 undergraduate clinical level medical students at the 5th to final year in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University for Development Studies in Ghana were purposefully selected to participate in semi-structured individual interviews. Students expressed their opinions and experiences regarding the inadequacy of nutrition education in the curriculum. Each interview was audio-recorded and later transcribed verbatim. Using the constant comparison method, key themes were identified from the data and analysis was done simultaneously with data collection.ResultsStudents opined that doctors have an important role to play in providing nutrition care to their patients. However, they felt their nutrition education was inadequate due to lack of priority for nutrition education, lack of faculty to provide nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science to clinical practice and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Students opined that their nutrition educational experiences will be improved if the following strategies were implemented: adoption of innovative teaching and learning strategies, early and comprehensive incorporation of nutrition as a theme throughout the curriculum, increasing awareness on the importance of nutrition education, reviewing and revision of the curriculum to incorporate nutrition, and involving nutrition/dietician specialists in medical education.ConclusionThough students considered nutrition care as an important role for doctors they felt incapacitated by non-prioritisation of nutrition education, lack of faculty for teaching of nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Incorporation of nutrition as a theme in medical education, improving collaboration, advocacy and creating enabling environments for nutrition education could address some of the barriers to nutrition education.

Phenomenology of Classroom Teachers’ Experience with Nutrition Education

Nutrition education delivered by classroom teachers is an intervention format increasing in popularity, however few in-depth qualitative studies have explored the experience of nutrition education with teachers. The objective of this study was to explore how elementary school teachers describe their experience with nutrition education. A qualitative transcendental phenomenological research design was utilized, with a post-positivism paradigm to form the foundation of the study. The intent of this research design is to describe commonalities of a lived experience (delivering nutrition education) for several individuals. Early elementary (K-2) school teachers were sampled to saturation, with a total of 10 teachers participating. Semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis were conducted with each teacher. Inductive coding was used to determine invariant constituents of the experience, reduce constituents to categories, and cluster categories into overarching themes. Reliability and validity strategies, such as intercoder agreement and member checking, were conducted to strengthen results. Five core themes were identified, including: Multiple meaningful roles in nutrition education, importance of nutrition education, perceived influences on behavioral predictors and behavior, personal motivation, and barriers to education. Findings demonstrate a complex set of experiences and perspectives integral to successfully delivering classroom-based nutrition education. Nutrition experts should involve school teachers throughout the program development and assessment process of any classroom-based nutrition education intervention to address teachers’ perspectives and facilitate successful delivery. Although the present sample size was acceptable for qualitative research, a quantitative study should be developed to determine generalizability of results.

The Domains of Human Nutrition: The Importance of Nutrition Education in Academia and Medical Schools.

Human nutrition encompasses an extremely broad range of medical, social, commercial, and ethical domains and thus represents a wide, interdisciplinary scientific and cultural discipline. The high prevalence of both disease-related malnutrition and overweight/obesity represents an important risk factor for disease burden and mortality worldwide. It is the opinion of Federation of the Italian Nutrition Societies (FeSIN) that these two sides of the same coin, with their sociocultural background, are related to a low “nutritional culture” secondary, at least in part, to an insufficient academic training for health-care professionals (HCPs). Therefore, FeSIN created a study group, composed of delegates of all the federated societies and representing the different HCPs involved in human nutrition, with the aim of identifying and defining the domains of human nutrition in the attempt to more clearly define the cultural identity of human nutrition in an academically and professionally oriented perspective and to report the conclusions in a position paper. Three main domains of human nutrition, namely, basic nutrition, applied nutrition, and clinical nutrition, were identified. FeSIN has examined the areas of knowledge pertinent to human nutrition. Thirty-two items were identified, attributed to one or more of the three domains and ranked considering their diverse importance for academic training in the different domains of human nutrition. Finally, the study group proposed the attribution of the different areas of knowledge to the degree courses where training in human nutrition is deemed necessary (e.g., schools of medicine, biology, nursing, etc.). It is conceivable that, in the near future, a better integration of the professionals involved in the field of human nutrition will eventually occur based on the progressive consolidation of knowledge, competence, and skills in the different areas and domains of this discipline.

EL PAPEL DE LA EDUCACIÓN DURANTE LA TRANSICIÓN NUTRICIONAL Y SU RELACIÓN CON LA CALIDAD DE VIDA

La educación constituye una poderosa herramienta que permite mejorar la calidad de vida de los individuos, su papel se hace evidente al proporcionar los conocimientos necesarios para que mediante autonomía, responsabilidad y actitud crítica se realicen las elecciones alimenticias adecuadas que proporcionen bienestar y salud. En este escrito se analizan algunos factores que inciden en la nutrición humana, la situación nutricional en Colombia, la importancia de la educación nutricional y su relación con la calidad de vida. Sustenta la idea que en la actualidad Colombia presenta un proceso de transición nutricional, y que mediante la educación se podrá contribuir a solucionar los problemas que esta genera, incidiendo en la calidad de vida de los individuos.

College Students’ Perceptions and Behaviors Toward Calorie Counts on Menu

This study identified college students’ perceptions and behaviors related to calorie counts on menus and examined any inconsistencies between perception and behavior among different levels of nutrition education. Fifty-four percent of respondents always believed that calorie information on menus can assist weight maintenance or weight loss. Forty-one percent of respondents always wanted to see calorie counts on menus at all restaurants. Behavioral statements were overall carried out “sometimes” by one third of students, while only one tenth of respondents indicated that they always changed menu selections or eating habits after knowing the calorie count. There were differences in perception and behavior score (PB Score) among different levels of nutrition education. This study confirmed the importance of nutrition education for college students in affecting menu item choices.

Consumo de refrigerantes entre escolares de séries iniciais da cidade de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul

Objective: To describe the daily consumption of soft drinks among students from the 1st to the 4th year from public primary schools in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, including 356 students from the 1st to the 4th year in the urban area of the city, in 2011. The outcome of this study was the daily consumption of soft drinks as was evaluated trough the Form Labels Food Consumption System proposed by the Food and Nutrition Surveillance. The frequency of consumption was described according to gender, age, maternal education, socio-economic level and students’ nutritional state. We analyzed the prevalence and its 95% confidence intervals, adopting the significance level of 5%. Results: Of the 411 students eligible for the study, 356 were evaluated, with 13.4% of losses and refusals. The prevalence of daily consumption of soft drinks was 21.6%. There were no statistically significant differences in daily consumption of soft drinks between sexes, age, classes of consumer goods and nutritional state. Conclusion: The students of the public primary schools of Pelotas showed a high prevalence of daily consumption of soft drinks. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of nutritional education in schools.

Food Consumption Patterns of Adults Following a Self‐selected Prescreening for Chronic Disease Risk

This study evaluated food consumption choices of male and female individuals who had previously participated in a comprehensive screening for chronic disease risk. Participant results following the screening included a nutrition score, based upon the participant's eating habits (including consumption of low‐fat meals, high‐fiber foods, breakfast consumption, fast food/snacks and food guide recommendations). Many factors may influence dietary intake changes including knowledge of chronic disease risks. However, altered dietary intake behaviors have been variable. Dietary intake of participants for 12 months was assessed electronically by the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire, Nutriquest. Most subjects reported their ethnicity as Caucasian, 88%, followed by African America and Hispanic; average age, 53. All participants were employed. Reported health status was: excellent, 20%; very good, 47.5%; good, 30%; fair, 2.5%. Mean caloric consumption was 1780±512.4kcal. Macronutrient consumption was CHO (47.7%), protein (35.6%), fat (16.1%) with intake of MUFA&gt;SFA&gt;PUFA. Dietary cholesterol was 206 mg/day. Fiber intake of 20.6 mg/day was reported. Calculated BMI indicated most subjects were currently overweight/obese (55%). Results clearly indicate the importance of nutrition education and follow‐up of individuals who exhibit proactive health related behaviors.

Some Sociodemographic Factors Influencing the Nutritional Awareness of the Saudi Teens and Adults: Preliminary Observations

Three hundred and eleven (311) Saudi visitors (teenagers and adults) participated in a nutritional awareness and anthropometric study in a Health Week Exhibition campaign sponsored by the Ministry of Health in 1408 H (1988). The study revealed that the average adult male and female heights were 167cm and 155cm against the American standard heights of 178cm and 163cm respectively. Adult females weighed more than males (43.2% vs 19.8%), and the married subjects of both sexes were heavier than the unmarried subjects (male: 15.4% vs 4.4%; female: 35.1% vs 8.1%). A good number of subjects consumed a variety of foods from the four food groups daily which reflected a good trend in food and nutrition awareness. However, the study emphasizes the importance of nutrition education and propagation for the improvement of general health and nutritional status of the population.

Nutritive intake of black and Hispanic mothers in a Brooklyn ghetto

The nutritional status of black and Hispanic mothers living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, was evaluated, using three-day dietary recall, a questionnaire on food buying and preparation techniques, and anthropometric measurements. Mean nutrient intake of both groups was considerably lower than the 1974 Recommended Dietary Allowances for all nutrients studied except protein, ascorbic acid, and phosphorus. Body weight and triceps skinfold values for both groups were higher than standard, suggesting obesity. Reasons for these findings are discussed with emphasis on the importance of nutrition education.