Shaping Healthy Choices Program Research Articles

A multi‐component nutrition intervention utilizing a learner‐centered, garden‐based nutrition curriculum improves nutrition knowledge among fourth‐grade children (379.4)

The nutrition education and promotion component of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP) included classroom education, garden‐based learning, and cooking demonstrations in fourth‐grade classrooms. Discovering Healthy Choices (DHC), a learner‐centered, garden‐based nutrition curriculum, was developed for SHCP. The objective of DHC is to facilitate understanding of nutrition concepts and development of critical thinking skills so youth can make evidence‐based decisions about the foods they eat. DHC supports Common Core State Standards. Cooking demonstrations were linked to DHC concepts. It was hypothesized that students participating in SHCP would have improved nutrition knowledge and critical thinking skills compared to controls. Schools meeting inclusion criteria in Northern (NC) and Central Valley California (CV) were randomly assigned to control (C) or intervention (I) groups. Pre‐ and post‐assessments included a Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire and the Test of Basic Science Process Skills (BAPS). Districts were analyzed separately. At baseline, a correlation between nutrition knowledge and BAPS was observed (Pearson’s r=0.51, p<0.01). This correlation was maintained at follow‐up. Significant improvements in nutrition knowledge were found between NCI and NCC (P<0.01) and CVI and CVC (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in BAPS between C and I groups in either district.Grant Funding Source: Supported by UCANR #11‐1018 and USDA 2011‐38420‐20082

The Shaping Healthy Choices Program: A Multi‐Component, School‐Based Approach to Improve Children's Nutrition and Health Behaviors While Supporting Regional Agriculture

The Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP) involves the integration of five components: nutrition education; family and community partnerships; regional agriculture; foods available on school site; and school wellness policies. This study uses a pre‐/post‐test design to test the hypothesis that schools utilizing the SHCP will improve nutrition knowledge, science processing skills, and health‐related behaviors. Schools meeting inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to control (C) or intervention (I) groups. All 4th grade students were invited to participate with a 98% (n=133) and 97% (n=177) rate of participation in C and I schools, respectively. The ethnic diversity index was 63 and 75, and free and reduced‐price eligibility was 30% and 35%, at C and I, respectively. The cornerstone of the SHCP was 20 h of inquiry‐based, garden‐enhanced nutrition education with accompanying parent newsletters. An increased variety of regional produce was available at I schools. The BMI for C and I students was 18.7 and 20.7, respectively. Mean reported MyPlate vegetable servings for C and I were .72 and .57, respectively. Mean student vegetable preference scores (max=5) for C and I were 3.5 and 3.6, respectively. This model is useful for data collection and evaluation of multi‐component school‐based nutrition interventions. Supported by UCANR and USDA 2011–38420‐20082.

Assessment of Nutrition and Physical Activity in Children Participating in the Shaping Healthy Choices Program

The Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP) involves the integration of five components: nutrition education; family and community partnerships; regional agriculture; foods available on site; and school wellness policies. This study uses a pre/post‐test design to test the hypothesis that schools utilizing the SHCP, which includes garden‐based learning, will improve nutrition knowledge, science processing skills, and health related behaviors. Schools meeting inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to control or intervention groups. Dietary behaviors were assessed using digital photography plate waste measures, Block Food Frequency Questionnaires, and dermal carotenoid Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (RRS). Physical activity was measured using accelerometers. Nutrition knowledge and science processing skills were measured using validated questionnaires. Accuracy of plate waste was measured by 3 independent recorders; no statistical differences were observed. There was correlation between reported intake of MyPlate vegetable (MPV) servings and RRS (R2 = .31; p < .04). A slight correlation was observed between MPV and vegetable preferences at the intervention site (R2 = .03; p <.03). The assessment methods utilized in the SHCP and their interrelationships provide novel insight into conducting research in school‐based settings. Supported by UCANR and USDA 2011–38420‐20082.

The development and implementation of an inquiry‐based nutrition education curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program

The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an inquiry‐based nutrition education curriculum that includes garden‐based extension activities. The curriculum is intended to help students learn key nutrition concepts and improve science process skills that are important for making healthy choices. Curriculum topics include: roles of nutrients, MyPlate recommendations, physical activity, reading food labels, understanding consumerism, and making healthy snacks. This curriculum was implemented among 4th‐grade children as part of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP), a multi‐component, controlled intervention. Schools meeting inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to control (C) or intervention (I) groups. Participation was n=133 (C) and n=177 (I). Percent eligibility in the Free and Reduced‐Price Meal Program was 30–35%. Basic Test of Science Processing Skills (BAPS) mean scores were 25.9 (C) and 25.6 (I) out of 35, and nutrition knowledge mean scores were 20.2 (C) and 19.5 (I) out of 35. BAPS was correlated with nutrition knowledge (r=.48; p<.001). Qualitative data included student use of science process skills in nutrition‐related problems and journal reflections from classroom teachers. Teachers reported enthusiasm by students for lesson content and student learning exceeded their expectations. Supported by UCANR and USDA 2011–38420‐20082.

RESEARCH NEWS: Initiative promotes youth development, healthy living, science literacy

Outlook Research news Initiative promotes youth development, healthy living, science literacy C alifornia’s youth are in trouble, facing chal- lenges from alarmingly high obesity and school dropout rates to alarmingly low sci- ence literacy rankings. While these trends have been easy to spot, reversing them has been difficult. To help identify — and implement — effective solutions to these urgent problems, UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) is partnering with communities statewide via a new UC ANR strategic initiative aimed at help- One in six youths aged 16 to ing youth in California. 24 years is out of school and “We’re bringing a lot of people together across out of work. many disciplines,” says UCCE Community Development Specialist Dave Campbell, who leads the new youth-focused initiative. “If our work is going to be relevant to the real world, we need to reflect its complexity.” a 2012 report called F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health. Obesity is linked to chronic illnesses, includ- ing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. In 2009, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy estimated the cost to the state of overweight, obesity and physical inactivity was more than $41 billion per year, the highest nationwide. California’s science literacy is also abysmal, with only the District of Columbia scoring worse in eighth-grade science in the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s 2011 State Snapshot Report. A workforce with the knowledge and skills for scientific careers is critical to the state’s economy, and under- standing science is key to participating fully in today’s technological society. “It’s very important to be able to reason and think critically,” Campbell says. “We need an informed citizenry.” Equally dismal are the state’s high youth dropout rates. One in six youths aged 16 Healthy Families and Communities to 24 years is out of school and out of work. Besides Called Healthy Families and Communities, the ini- having high social costs, this is a missed opportunity tiative includes three interwoven strands: encouraging for training skilled workers to replace those close to healthy lifestyles, boosting science literacy, and foster- retirement. ing positive youth development. The need is great. A Because the challenges facing California’s youth third of school-aged children in California are over- are multifaceted, solving them will require a multi- weight or obese, and at current rates nearly half of pronged approach. “We shouldn’t think of these is- the state’s adults could be obese by 2030, according to sues as discrete — they’re interconnected,” Campbell says. He cites the school gardening movement as an example of effectively integrating nutrition, science education and youth development. UCCE teaching and extension programs across California communi- ties are informed by UC ANR’s active research efforts. Since 2009, UC ANR academics have published more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles addressing one or more of the Healthy Families and Communities strategic initiative’s priorities of healthy living for obesity prevention, youth science literacy and positive youth development (http://ucanr.edu/sites/HFC/). Peter Bennett Shaping Healthy Choices Students, parents and teachers work on the garden at the 24th Street School garden in Los Angeles on Big Sunday, the nation’s largest annual citywide community service event. This prototype garden classroom spans more than one acre and includes an orchard with 55 fruit trees. “You need to address several components at once to make a change,” agrees UCCE Nutrition Science Specialist Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr, who codirects the UC Davis Center for Nutrition in Schools. She leads a multidisciplinary team that, with funding from an ANR competitive grant of $600,000 over 4 years, is evaluating a multicomponent K-6 nutrition education effort called the Shaping Healthy Choices Program. Designed to both improve child health and support local agriculture, the program incorporates serving regional fruits and vegetables, a salad bar, a hands-on garden, and classroom nutrition and physical fitness lessons. Just as importantly, the program is aligned http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.edu • January–MArch 2013 9