Nutrition-related Topics Research Articles

The Status of Food and Nutrition Literacy and its determinants among Elementary School students in Egypt: community nursing-led design

AimTo assess food and nutrition literacy status and its determinants among elementary school students in El-Beheira Governorate, Egypt.BackgroundDeveloping strategies to enhance food and nutrition literacy necessitates a deeper understanding of the food and nutrition literacy situation among elementary school students and associated factors.DesignA cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted.MethodsA final sample of 400 primary school students (aged 6–12 years) at Itay El Barud public elementary schools in El-Beheira Governorate were administered (1) a socio-demographic characteristics and anthropometric measurements questionnaire developed by the researchers, and (2) the Food and Nutrition Literacy Scale. The derived data were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric tests.ResultsThe majority (61%) of students had low food and nutrition literacy scores. The results have shown that overall socio-demographic variables were significant in predicting understanding food and nutrition information, nutritional health knowledge, interactive functional and nutritional literacy, critical food and nutritional literacy, and food labeling.ConclusionThe study reveals that elementary school students in Egypt have poor knowledge and skills in food and nutrition literacy, largely due to a lack of nutrition education and family awareness. Factors like residential location, income, and education level also contribute to this disparity.Implications for the professionTo improve nutrition literacy among students, a nursing approach involving community stakeholders and school nurses is recommended. This includes integrating nutrition-related topics into the school curriculum, organizing workshops, and conducting age-appropriate health education sessions. Active engagement between community health and school nurses is crucial for raising awareness about healthy nutritional choices.ImpactThese findings hold an important impact on the education system and those designing curricula, emphasizing the need for significant incorporation of knowledge and skills related to food and nutrition within schools.Reporting methodCompliance with the STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies was maintained throughout the research.Patient or public contributionNo Patient or Public Contribution.

Using a Responsive Feedback Approach to Develop and Pilot a Counseling Chatbot to Strengthen Child Nutrition in Rural India.

Nearly half of all deaths in children in India aged younger than 5 years are attributable to undernutrition. Reinforcing the caregiver's positive behaviors through multiple channels can lead to improved child nutrition outcomes. We describe the development and piloting of a chatbot to improve nutrition outcomes for children aged 0-12 months. We engaged key stakeholders to understand existing interventions to improve nutrition outcomes and developed a theory of change that included an intervention that provides nutrition-related information directly to beneficiaries. A chatbot, Poshan Didi, was developed to provide individual counseling to mothers with children aged 0-12 months on age-appropriate, nutrition-related topics. The chatbot was piloted in Katni district from February 2019 to October 2019 in 2 phases to investigate the acceptability and feasibility of the chatbot (Phase 1, n=10 mothers) and to assess whether users would continue to be engaged and would engage with both the automated content as well as through free form questions (Phase 2, n=100 mothers). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in focus group discussions with health care workers and mothers (n=4) and interviews with mothers (n=26). Mothers viewed the chatbot as being a private channel to discuss topics and referred to Poshan Didi's persona as being knowledgeable. Eighty percent of users replied at least once to a chatbot-generated message. Sixty-four percent engaged beyond the standard chatbot content by discussing at least 1 issue with a nurse who responded to escalated messages. This work demonstrates how chatbots could create multiple interaction touchpoints between caregivers and health care workers to increase caregivers' access to age-appropriate nutrition counseling and information. The study shows the value of using the responsive feedback approach in the chatbot design and implementation to improve the efficacy of the digital tool.

Assessing Health Care Providers' Knowledge and Practices of Nutrition during Pregnancy in Lebanon: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background and objectives: Health care professionals (HCPs) are well-positioned to discuss healthy behaviors during pregnancy, but the published research of prenatal healthcare providers' knowledge about the significance of nutrition during pregnancy in Lebanon is scarce. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Lebanese prenatal healthcare providers towards nutrition during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was conducted. Health care providers were contacted by phone and email to participate in the online survey. A list of all clinics providing antenatal health services was obtained from the Order of Physicians and the Order of Midwives. A multistage random sample was selected. In the first stage, it was stratified per region (Beirut center or suburbs, and the southern region). In the second phase, it was stratified per clinic type (private, primary healthcare center, or hospital). Gynecologists and midwives who are members of the Order of Physicians and the Order of Midwives (n = 1333), were included. Results: Two-hundred and six responses (55% males) were obtained. Approximately 44% of the HCP were aged 50 and older, and 68.4% had more than 10 years of work experience. HCPs from Beirut represented 41.3% of the respondents. Eighty-eight percent of the HCPs were physicians, and 11% were midwives. The majority of the participants considered nutrition during pregnancy to be very important. Furthermore, half of these participants considered their position in delivering nutrition information as very significant. Most of the respondents reported that they provide nutrition advice to pregnant women, and they also received nutrition education during their profession. However, they perceived their nutrition knowledge as inadequate. Conclusion: Health care providers' attitude towards the importance of maternal nutrition and their confidence in talking about nutrition-related topics with pregnant women were positive despite the lack of knowledge in several areas related to nutrition during pregnancy. Therefore, there is a need for continuing nutrition education for health care providers and the implementation of nutrition education programs to achieve better health outcomes.

Investigating the Role of Nutrition in Enhancing Immunity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Twitter Text-Mining Analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the spotlight the critical role played by a balanced and healthy diet in bolstering the human immune system. There is burgeoning interest in nutrition-related information on social media platforms like Twitter. There is a critical need to assess and understand public opinion, attitudes, and sentiments toward nutrition-related information shared on Twitter. This study uses text mining to analyze nutrition-related messages on Twitter to identify and analyze how the general public perceives various food groups and diets for improving immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We gathered 71,178 nutrition-related tweets that were posted between January 01, 2020, and September 30, 2020. The Correlated Explanation text mining algorithm was used to identify frequently discussed topics that users mentioned as contributing to immunity building against SARS-CoV-2. We assessed the relative importance of these topics and performed a sentiment analysis. We also qualitatively examined the tweets to gain a closer understanding of nutrition-related topics and food groups. Text-mining yielded 10 topics that users discussed frequently on Twitter, viz proteins, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy-related, spices and herbs, fluids, supplements, avoidable foods, and specialty diets. Supplements were the most frequently discussed topic (23,913/71,178, 33.6%) with a higher proportion (20,935/23,913, 87.75%) exhibiting a positive sentiment with a score of 0.41. Consuming fluids (17,685/71,178, 24.85%) and fruits (14,807/71,178, 20.80%) were the second and third most frequent topics with favorable, positive sentiments. Spices and herbs (8719/71,178, 12.25%) and avoidable foods (8619/71,178, 12.11%) were also frequently discussed. Negative sentiments were observed for a higher proportion of avoidable foods (7627/8619, 84.31%) with a sentiment score of -0.39. This study identified 10 important food groups and associated sentiments that users discussed as a means to improve immunity. Our findings can help dieticians and nutritionists to frame appropriate interventions and diet programs.

Perspectives and practices of dietitians with regards to social/mass media use during the transitions from face-to-face to telenutrition in the time of COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey in 10 Arab countries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most healthcare professionals switched from face-to-face clinical encounters to telehealth. This study sought to investigate the dietitians' perceptions and practices toward the use of social/mass media platforms amid the transition from face-to-face to telenutrition in the time of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study involving a convenient sample of 2,542 dietitians (mean age = 31.7 ± 9.5; females: 88.2%) was launched in 10 Arab countries between November 2020 and January 2021. Data were collected using an online self-administrated questionnaire. Study findings showed that dietitians' reliance on telenutrition increased by 11% during the pandemic, p = 0.001. Furthermore, 63.0% of them reported adopting telenutrition to cover consultation activities. Instagram was the platform that was most frequently used by 51.7% of dietitians. Dietitians shouldered new difficulties in dispelling nutrition myths during the pandemic (58.2% reported doing so vs. 51.4% pre-pandemic, p < 0.001). Compared to the pre-pandemic period, more dietitians perceived the importance of adopting tele nutrition's clinical and non-clinical services (86.9% vs. 68.0%, p = 0.001), with 76.6% being confident in this practice. In addition, 90.0% of the participants received no support from their work facilities for social media usage. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of dietitians (80.0%) observed a rise in public interest in nutrition-related topics, particularly those pertaining to healthy eating habits (p = 0.001), healthy recipes (p = 0.001), nutrition and immunity (p = 0.001), and medical nutrition therapies (p = 0.012). Time constraint was the most prevalent barrier to offering telenutrition for nutrition care (32.1%), whereas leveraging a quick and easy information exchange was the most rewarding benefit for 69.3% of the dietitians. In conclusion, to ensure a consistent provision of nutrition care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, dietitians working in Arab countries adopted alternative telenutrition approaches through social/mass media.

A scoping review of nutrition education interventions to improve competencies, lifestyle and dietary habits of medical students and residents.

We reviewed the available research and gave an overview of the effects of nutrition education interventions (NEIs) on medical students' and residents' knowledge of nutrition, attitudes towards nutrition care, self-efficacy, dietary practices and readiness to offer nutrition care. From 28 May through 29 June 2021, we searched Google Scholar, PubMed, ProQuest, Cochrane and ProQuest to retrieve 1807 articles. After conducting de-duplication and applying the eligibility criteria and reviewing the title and abstract, 23 papers were included. The data were descriptively and narratively synthesised, and the results were displayed as frequencies, tables and figures. Twenty-one interventions were designed to increase participants' knowledge of nutrition-related topics, and eighteen studies found that nutrition knowledge had significantly improved post-intervention. Only four of the eleven studies that reported on attitudes about nutrition post-intervention showed a meaningful improvement. The self-efficacy of participants was examined in more than half of the included studies (n 13, 56⋅5 %), and eleven of these studies found a significant increase in the participants' level of self-efficacy to offer nutrition care post-intervention. At the post-intervention point, seven interventions found that dietary and lifestyle habits had significantly improved. The review demonstrated the potential of NEIs to enhance participants' dietary habits and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy. Reduced nutrition knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy scores during the follow-up, point to the need for more opportunities for medical students and residents to learn about nutrition after the intervention.

Nutrition Coverage in Medical Licensing Examinations in Germany: An Analysis of Six Nationwide Exams.

The state of nutrition education in medicine is inadequate, with nutrition-related topics being poorly integrated into lectures. Most medical students receive only a few contact hours of nutrition instruction during their entire time at medical school. Identifying potential barriers that may explain the paucity of nutritional knowledge in medical students is thus of paramount importance. The extent of nutrition coverage in the second part of Germany's nationwide medical licensing exam is currently unknown. We addressed this issue and assessed nutrition content, as well as students' scores, in this pivotal test prior to their graduation. We performed a post hoc analysis of six nationwide medical licensing examinations (2018-2020) undertaken by 29,849 medical students and screened 1920 multiple-choice questions for nutrition-related content. Nutrition-related questions accounted for a minority of the questions (2.1%, n = 40/1920). A considerable number of the questions (n = 19) included only a single nutrition-related answer option that was frequently incorrect and served as a distractor. About 0.5% of questions were entirely nutrition related. Despite undeniable barriers, the inclusion of additional nutrition-related examination questions could serve as an incentive to engage students and medical schools in enhancing medical nutrition education. The recently published competence-oriented learning objective catalog in Germany could play a pivotal role in this context, leading to better recognition of nutrition-related topics in medical education.

P157 Video, Written, or Combination? A Pilot Study Discovering Which Type of Engagement Students Preferred for Online Discussions

<h3>Objective</h3> To determine the level of collaboration, social presence, and satisfaction with online discussion assignments. <h3>Use of Theory or Research</h3> With advances in technology, student driven-learning demands, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, more higher-education institutions are offering asynchronous online courses. While highly effective, engagement is challenging. Graded student discussions are often incorporated to facilitate student engagement. <h3>Target Audience</h3> Students (n = 74; 84% Health Science majors) enrolled in a 16-week asynchronous online undergraduate life cycle nutrition course (Spring 2021). <h3>Course/Curriculum Description</h3> During the first 3-weeks, all students completed 1 video-only and 1 written-only discussion assignment before being equally randomized into a video-only (VO), written-only (WO), or written-video only (WVO) discussion group. Each group completed 6 discussions over 9-weeks on nutrition-related topics requiring an initial and response post. WVO students completed 3 written and 3 verbal discussion assignments in alternating format. <h3>Evaluation Methods</h3> Consenting students (n = 25 pre-; 26-post study) voluntarily completed the Collaborative Learning (CL), Social Presence (SP), and Satisfaction (SATIS) questionnaires during week 4 (n = 8 WO, 8 VO, 9 WVO) and weeks 13-15 (n = 6 WO, 7 VO, 13 WVO). Comparison of means, descriptive statistics, and Pearson χ2 analysis were conducted (IRB # 2012010996). <h3>Results</h3> No significant differences were observed between or within groups for CL, SP, and SATIS scores. However, the CL score increased the most in the WO compared to the VO group (12.8%-vs-3.3%) while SATIS scores increased 2.5% in the WVO and 9.7% in the WO groups but decreased 12.4% in the VO group. SP declined in all groups with the WVO group decreasing the most at 28.6%. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Video assignments are a viable option for student engagement, even though this pilot study was unable to match student's pre- and post-scores. This data suggests a decreased trend in satisfaction with video-only compared to written-only or a combination of the written-video in discussion forums, but larger studies are needed to further address this question. <h3>Funding</h3> None

Global Trends in Scientific Research on Pediatric Obesity.

(1) Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyze scientific production, collaboration among countries, and research topics focusing on pediatric obesity. (2) Methods: The papers that were included in the study were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection from Clarivate Analytics. A bibliometric analysis of several focuses, including journals of publication, subject categories, most frequent author keywords, and journal impact factors, was conducted. Social network analysis was used to recognize collaboration groups between countries and the co-occurrences of author keywords. (3) Results: A total of 12,171 research articles were published in 2036 journals classified under a variety of subject areas, with pediatrics (27.7%), nutrition and dietetics (18.5%), and public environmental and occupational health (18.4%) accounting for the most frequent study areas, and Pediatric Obesity (309), the International Journal of Obesity (299), and BMC Public Health being the most productive journals. The main challenges identified for pediatric obesity include general topics such as physical activity, nutrition, diet, and prevention as well as other more specific challenges such as metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, eating behavior, and cardiovascular diseases. (4) Conclusions: We observed a growth rate in the number of published articles of 59.8%, which serves as evidence of the importance of the topic. The number of funded papers also doubled from 2010 to 2019. There has been significant global collaboration on the topic, with countries across five continents being involved. The results of the thematic analysis reveal the importance of exercise and nutrition-related topics along with specialized health terms and terms related to public health.

O31 Determining Low-Income Fathers’ Preferred mHealth Nutrition-Related Topics, Features, and Delivery Methods

Background There is limited evidence about fathers’ preferences related to using mHealth tools to receive nutrition and obesity prevention information for their preschool aged children. Objective The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine fathers’ preferred mHealth nutrition-related topics, features, and delivery methods. Study Design, Setting, Participants Low-income fathers (n = 29) of preschool aged children from 2 US states were individually interviewed by a trained research assistant using a semi-structured interview script. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Interview questions were based on the Theory of Planned Behavior to determine fathers’ subjective norms, preferences, and attitudes towards mHealth tools, content and video preferences, and behavioral intentions related to using mHealth tools. The classic analysis approach was used to determine major themes from transcribed interviews. Descriptive statistics of participants were derived from a demographics questionnaire. Results Fathers were, on average, 36 years old, and the majority were non-White (69%) and non-Hispanic (79%), with almost half having a high school education or less (48%). Overall themes indicated that fathers preferred mHealth tools such as an app, social media, videos, text messages, and email. There were mixed opinions on the use of memes and GIFs. Requested topics included healthy eating, child feeding, meal preparation, food safety, physical activity, and mental health related information. Features should include practical tips, meal plans, recipes, a calendar with healthy lifestyle reminders, options to connect with other fathers, and personalization for their child. Content should be short, funny, appealing, engaging, informational, beneficial, and include visuals, yet be credible, relatable, and straightforward. Frequency of information should be posted or shared every day or at least once or twice a week. Conclusion The use of an app or social media to communicate healthy eating and child feeding information to low-income fathers of preschool age children may be a viable nutrition education strategy. Funding NIFA.

News from NHLBI: Nutrition Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Future Opportunities

BackgroundNutrition plays a major role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases; hence, nutrition research is a priority for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The purpose of this analysis is to describe the scope of NHLBI-funded extramural nutrition research grants over the past decade and offer insights into future opportunities for nutrition research relevant to NHLBI’s mission. MethodsData were extracted using the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization spending categories from the publicly available NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool Expenditures and Results. New 2018 and 2019 grants were coded into categories and mapped to the 2016 NHLBI Strategic Vision priorities. ResultsApproximately 90% of nutrition research funds supported extramural grants, particularly through investigator-initiated R series grants (69.6%). Of these, 19.8% were classified as clinical trials. Consistent nutrition-related topics, including physical activity, weight loss, fatty acids, metabolic syndrome, childhood obesity, and other topics such as gut microbiota, arterial stiffness, sleep duration, and meal timing, emerged in 2014–2019. Mapping of the NHLBI Strategic Vision objectives revealed that 32% of newly funded grants focused on pathobiological mechanisms important to the onset and progression of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders, with opportunities including developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and clinical and implementation science research. DiscussionThe findings show the breadth of NHLBI-funded nutrition research and highlight potential research opportunities for nutrition scientists.

Teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in teaching food and nutrition subjects in Australian secondary schools

PurposeTeachers play important roles in school food and nutrition education. This study aims to explore Australian teachers' self-efficacy beliefs (i.e. belief in their own capabilities to perform specific teaching tasks) in teaching secondary school food and nutrition-related subjects.Design/methodology/approachTeachers' overall self-efficacy beliefs in teaching these subjects (overall-SEB) and self-efficacy beliefs in teaching different food and nutrition-related topics (topics-SEB) were explored using a survey among 183 teachers in 2017. Principal components analysis derived three overall-SEB components: “Motivation and accommodation of individual differences”, “Classroom management” and “Communication and clarification” and three topics-SEB components: “Food system”, “Food and nutrition information” and “Food preparation”.FindingsOverall, higher percentages of teachers were confident or very confident in the majority of items that loaded on “Classroom management” and “Communication and clarification” compared to “Motivation and accommodation of individual differences”. Moreover, higher percentages of teachers were confident or very confident about items that loaded on “Food and nutrition information” and “Food preparation” compared” to “Food system”. The overall-SEB and topics-SEB were higher among more experienced teachers. There were moderate positive correlations between overall-SEB and topics-SEB components.Originality/valueThe exploration of broader aspects of self-efficacy beliefs related to teaching secondary school food and nutrition-related subjects makes this study unique. The findings highlight that these teachers had high self-efficacy beliefs in teaching food and nutrition education, but there are gaps in tailoring the teaching process to meet the diverse needs of students and teaching broader food-related topics.

Identifying Differences in Nutrition-Related Learning Interests of Adolescent Students.

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDIn this study, we examined nutrition‐related topics among adolescent students attending schools with different Indices of Community Socio‐Educational Advantage (ICSEA).METHODParticipating students (N = 206) from 5 schools in Western Australia completed a paper‐based questionnaire on nutrition‐related topics. Frequencies and independent chi‐square tests were used to identify differences between sexes and school ICSEA.RESULTSOf the participating students, 75% were interested in learning about 8 of 16 topics. We found statistically significant differences by sex (p < .01) for “Eating the right foods for preventing illness and disease,” “Eating the right food for being active” among girls, and “Reducing food waste” among boys. We also noted differences by school ICSEA.CONCLUSIONAcknowledging sex and socioeducational differences in teaching and learning may help teachers to engage adolescent students in nutrition education.

Opportunities for Qualitative Analysis of Social Media Platforms in Dietetic Research and Practice.

To date, most qualitative knowledge about individual eating patterns and the food environment has been derived from traditional data collection methods, such as interviews, focus groups, and observations. However, there currently exists a large source of nutrition-related data in social media discussions that have the potential to provide opportunities to improve dietetic research and practice. Qualitative social media discussion analysis offers a new tool for dietetic researchers and practitioners to gather insights into how the public discusses various nutrition-related topics. We first consider how social media discussion data come with significant advantages including low-cost access to timely ways to gather insights from the public, while also cautioning that social media data have limitations (e.g.,difficulty verifying demographic information). We then outline 3 types of social media discussion platforms in particular: (i) online news article comment sections, (ii) food and nutrition blogs, and (iii) discussion forums. We discuss how each different type of social media offers unique insights and provide a specific example from our own research using each platform. We contend that social media discussions can contribute positively to dietetic research and practice.

Education for Sustainable Food and Nutrition – Towards Criteria for German Secondary Schools

Food is an integral part of everyone’s life, but the food sector also hugely contributes to harming the environment. Education is the best tool to bring the topic closer to the youngest generations by integrating sustainable food and nutrition into their educational institutions. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address this challenge through multiple SDGs, for example, through SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production. This research was conducted for the KMGNE, a Berlin-based research educational institute. This research explores criteria that can be used to incorporate the topic of sustainable food and nutrition in German secondary schools. Through a mix of qualitative methods, the concept of shaping competences, outcome-based learning was explored, and based on the research results, a set of criteria were determined. The research shows that transformative learning changes behaviour, as it allows internal change about assumptions and beliefs in students. This is why transformative learning works best to bring a change in behaviour. It is essential that schools not only teach about sustainable food and nutrition but also teach by example through the food they offer. Practitioners need to receive training to integrate sustainable food and nutrition-related topics into their lessons. External partners and learning environments should be included in education for sustainable food and nutrition to add authenticity as they can tell personal stories or show food production. The research was conducted in Germany; however, it is possible to use the determined criteria in different educational settings and countries.

A longitudinal study to investigate the effects of a 12-week comprehensive lifestyle weight management program on body weight and quality of life

The majority of Americans now have overweight or obesity. With limited resources to treat all patients, group programs are emerging as an efficient method for dissemination of evidence-based lifestyle information. The objective of this study was to evaluate change in body weight, biochemical parameters, and quality of life among individuals after completion of a 12-week comprehensive group weight management program at an obesity medicine clinic. 204 patients were recruited for the study after enrolling in the Healthy Habits for Life program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center in Boston and Danvers, MA. Prior to the program, patients met individually with a dietitian and baseline data was collected. Primary outcome measures collected were weight and BMI change over the course of the program. Secondary measures collected included biochemical parameters and quality of life. Weekly group visits consisted of primary outcome collection and 1.5h of instruction on various lifestyle- and nutrition-related topics. Secondary outcome measures were reassessed at an individual visit with the dietitian after the program concluded. 142 participants were adherent to the protocol (attended 9 out of 12 classes). On average, patients lost 6.4kg (14.1 lbs.), representing a percent total body weight loss of over 5%. Average BMI decrease was significant at 5.35±4.61%. Improvements were seen in physical function, self-esteem, and sexual life; total QOL scores also improved by a significant 5.79% on average. There were also significant improvements in total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HbA1c. The Healthy Habits for Life group program was an effective treatment for obesity and related health concerns, including overall quality of life. Group programs of this style may be a more efficient was to disseminate evidence-based lifestyle information and affect change for patients with overweight or obesity.

P43 Partnering with 4-H and High School Culinary Club to Provide School-Based Nutrition Education to Engage Latino Youth in Teaching Cooking Classes to Younger Youth and Adapting Healthy Eating Behaviors

ObjectiveTo implement Teens as Teachers Cooking Academy Program (TAT CAP) to underrepresented adolescents and explore their experiences in teaching younger youth and how the experience influences their attitudes and behaviors around healthy eating.Use of Theory or ResearchHaving adolescents serve as teachers of younger children is a promising approach to support positive youth behaviors. Research showed that teenagers improved their teaching skills, social and emotional learning during cross-age teaching by role modeling and hands-on cooking experience. It empowers youth to make healthy food choices by increasing their self-efficacy. A limited program has been implemented and evaluated among Latino adolescents in a high school setting.Target AudienceLow-income Latino high school (HS) students who participated in Culinary Art Club.Program DescriptionThe TAT CAP was developed through the partnership between University of California (UC) 4-H, CalFresh, and a local HS. UC Extension staff and HS chef gave trainings to 25 Latino HS students for them to use evidence-based cooking curriculum to teach the elementary students how to cook. During the sessions, teen teachers went over nutrition-related topics, cooking demonstrations, and gave younger youth hands-on culinary experience.Evaluation MethodsA post-program teen teacher survey assessed their attitudes and behaviors towards healthy eating, self-efficacy in cooking and teaching, and their experience of being teen teachers.ResultsTwenty-five HS students attended TAT CAP program and 19 completed the post-program survey. Over 50% of participants reported they paid attention to how many fruits and vegetables they were eating, ate breakfast most of the days, and ate meals with families after the program; 78% had given their family ideas of healthy meals and snack; and 100% participants said they learned healthy food choices. On average, over 90% of youth were confident in safe cooking behaviors, making change to a recipe, and being a teen leader.ConclusionsTAT program suggested an engaging way for Latino teenagers to learn nutrition and empower them to role model healthy eating behaviors to younger youth. To implement Teens as Teachers Cooking Academy Program (TAT CAP) to underrepresented adolescents and explore their experiences in teaching younger youth and how the experience influences their attitudes and behaviors around healthy eating. Having adolescents serve as teachers of younger children is a promising approach to support positive youth behaviors. Research showed that teenagers improved their teaching skills, social and emotional learning during cross-age teaching by role modeling and hands-on cooking experience. It empowers youth to make healthy food choices by increasing their self-efficacy. A limited program has been implemented and evaluated among Latino adolescents in a high school setting. Low-income Latino high school (HS) students who participated in Culinary Art Club. The TAT CAP was developed through the partnership between University of California (UC) 4-H, CalFresh, and a local HS. UC Extension staff and HS chef gave trainings to 25 Latino HS students for them to use evidence-based cooking curriculum to teach the elementary students how to cook. During the sessions, teen teachers went over nutrition-related topics, cooking demonstrations, and gave younger youth hands-on culinary experience. A post-program teen teacher survey assessed their attitudes and behaviors towards healthy eating, self-efficacy in cooking and teaching, and their experience of being teen teachers. Twenty-five HS students attended TAT CAP program and 19 completed the post-program survey. Over 50% of participants reported they paid attention to how many fruits and vegetables they were eating, ate breakfast most of the days, and ate meals with families after the program; 78% had given their family ideas of healthy meals and snack; and 100% participants said they learned healthy food choices. On average, over 90% of youth were confident in safe cooking behaviors, making change to a recipe, and being a teen leader. TAT program suggested an engaging way for Latino teenagers to learn nutrition and empower them to role model healthy eating behaviors to younger youth.

P154 Impact of Cooking Classes on Students’ Knowledge and Ability to Make Culinary Recommendations for Low-Phe Diets

<h3>Background</h3> Nutrition students receive traditional theoretical instruction in Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) concepts. Integrating culinary instruction into academic coursework has been shown to improve medical students' ability to counsel patients on nutrition-related topics. Little is known on the impact of culinary nutrition for nutrition students. <h3>Objective</h3> This pilot study examines the impact of a hands-on cooking module on nutrition students' knowledge of low-phenylalanine (Phe) foods and their ability to make appropriate culinary recommendations to adapt recipes for low-Phe diets. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> Using quasi-experimental design with a non-probability, purposive sampling technique, students (n = 10) were recruited from advanced MNT classes at San Jose State University and randomly assigned to either control or treatment group. All students received a lecture on PKU and low-Phe diet principles. Following the lecture, the intervention group received a 1-hour culinary module related to the low-Phe diet. A 49-question survey was administered at 3 time points (Pre, post, and 6-week follow-up) with a 100% response rate testing student's knowledge of Phe-containing foods and techniques for adapting standard recipes. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Data was indexed (Knowledge, Cooking Habits, Cooking Confidence, and Application Confidence) and descriptive statistics reported as means compared pre-, post-, and follow-up scores using SPSS version 25. <h3>Results</h3> The treatment group's mean knowledge of low-Phe foods doubled from 14 (SD = 6.24) to 27.2 (SD = 2.77) from pretest to post-test. The treatment group recipe modification mean test score improved from 4.8/10 (SD = 2.38) questions correct to 6.6/10 (SD = 1.14) after intervention while decreasing for the control group. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Positive trends indicate improvement in knowledge of low-Phe foods and in participants' ability to make culinary recommendations for low-Phe recipes. Culinary nutrition may be a beneficial addition to nutrition coursework warranting future investigation with a larger population and a longer cooking module.

Effect of a Short Nutritional Training Program on Nutrition Literacy and Food Habits in Adolescents

Objective: Balanced nutrition is of special importance in adolescence however, eating behaviors may be negatively influenced during this stage due to several factors. The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of a nutrition training program on nutrition literacy level and food habits of a group of adolescents.Method: Adolescent Nutritional Literacy Scale (ANLS) and Adolescent Food Habits Checklist (AFHC) was used to determine the nutrition literacy level and food habits of 200 highschool students in Istanbul between September 2018 and April 2019. Effect of a face to face training, for 8 hrs over 4 weeks on nutrition related topics, were investigated on nutrition literacy level and food habits of the students.Results: Mean age of the students was 15 ± 0,66 years and 57% comprised of females. ANLS and AFHC scores in general, were higher in females, however the difference was statistically significant (p &amp;lt;0,05) only in pre-test scores. The average adolescent nutrition literacy (ANLS) score in males were 3,31 out of 5,0 and remained unchanged after training. In females however, it significantly decreased from 3,56 to 3,44 (p &amp;lt;0,05). Out of 19, AFHC scores decreased significantly from 9,80 to 8,94 in males and 10,03 to 9,34 in females (p &amp;lt;0,05) following training. Conclusion: A short nutritional training was not sufficiently effective in reflecting the positive change in nutrition literacy level and food habits among adolescents. Possible reasons should be investigated in depth and more comprehensive and longer training should be provided to increase nutritional awareness.

Development of a Personalized Apps to Inculcate Dietary Self-Management for Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients: A Need Analysis

Abstract Objectives Dietary non-adherence is highly prevalent among maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients resulting in multitudes health complications and poor treatment outcomes. Given high penetration of smartphone, well-designed mobile health apps emerged as a potential tool to empower HD patients with dietary self-management skills. This need analysis study determined the perception and expectation of patients and dietitians on the features and the use of apps in dialysis care to foster development of evidence-based renal diet apps. Methods This was a mixed-method study with concurrent triangulation design. The quantitative arm involved HD patients (n = 184) through face-to-face interview and dietitians (n = 120) via anonymous online survey. While the qualitative arm consisted of 10 in-depth interviews (HD patients) and 8 email interviews (dietitians). Descriptive and thematic analyses were used, and the results were compared. Results A total of 69.6% of HD patients owned a smartphone. More than half (53.9%) of the smartphone users had the experience of searching health information especially nutrition-related topics (91.3%). Majority of them (78.9%) perceived renal diet apps as very important and were willing to use (80.5%). They agreed that renal diet apps can help them in preventing nutrition complications (82.0%), planning menu (78.9%) and monitoring nutrient intakes (82.8%). In the context of practising dietitians, 60.8% aware of the existence of renal diet apps but only 38.3% of them would recommend existing renal diet apps to their patients due to lack of local content (42.5%) and unsure credibility (37.5%). Most of them (88.3%) perceived that local-based renal diet app is needed and agreed that it can enhance dietetics care in HD population (90.8%). Top features anticipated by both patients and dietitians included plan or order, tailored assistance, usability and tracker. Conclusions Dietary self-management via mobile health apps seems to be feasible in the dialysis population given the high smartphone penetration, strong desire to use and positive perceptions from patients and dietitians. Features valued by patients and dietitians will be integrated into the design of the apps to promote acceptance and usage. Funding Sources This project is funded by the internal grant of Universiti Putra Malaysia (Inisiatif Putra Muda).