A Survey Of Nutrition Education Practices Of Elementary School Teachers In Paradise California

Author : Jessica Dustin Linnell
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781339065274
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (652 download)

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Download or read book Investigating Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of School-based Nutrition Education Programs to Improve Children's Health written by Jessica Dustin Linnell and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Children in the United States are consuming inadequate amounts of several nutrients and the prevalence of overweight and obesity remains high at 31.7 percent. To address these concerns, nutrition science must be translated into clear, understandable recommendations for micronutrient and energy intakes that can be utilized by children and their parents. Moderate evidence indicates that school-based nutrition education interventions positively influence children's dietary behaviors. However, the effectiveness of nutrition education interventions may be influenced by a variety of factors, including: curriculum development methods; professional development models, and classroom factors like teachers' characteristics and factors of program implementation. The first objective of this research was to evaluate the use of a systematic approach and theoretical framework to develop a garden-enhanced, inquiry-based nutrition curriculum for the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP). The curriculum development team used Backward Design, a process that involves three steps: identification of learning objectives; determination of acceptable evidence of learning; and activity development. The design team met weekly and engaged in reflective practice to discuss drafts of curriculum activities. Activities were further refined using formative assessment methods during pilot-testing with 40 children. Qualitative observations were used to improve activity procedures and materials. Using a systematic, iterative process resulted in a comprehensive nutrition curriculum with a strong foundation in social cognitive theory and constructivist learning theory, and activities that have focused learning objectives that meet SHCP goals. This study has been submitted as a manuscript for peer-review. The objective of the second experiment was to evaluate the use of professional development to improve barriers to teaching nutrition in public elementary schools. Commonly reported barriers include lack of knowledge about nutrition, self-efficacy, and training. Lesson study (LS) is a professional development method demonstrated to reduce these barriers in the subjects of mathematics and science, and may be effective for nutrition education. It was hypothesized that teachers engaging in LS would improve self-efficacy and knowledge about nutrition. Eight teachers at two schools completed questionnaires at baseline and follow-up to measure changes in self-efficacy and nutrition knowledge. Using LS, teachers worked collaboratively to plan to implement SHCP activities, facilitate SHCP activities, and discuss observations of student learning to improve subsequent lessons. Differences were analyzed using paired t-tests with [alpha]=.05. There were no significant differences in self-efficacy or knowledge between baseline and follow-up, though significant differences were observed in subgroups. Teachers who reported previous experience teaching nutrition decreased self-efficacy ([mu] = -9.0 ± 6.2 P=.10) while those who reported no experience teaching nutrition increased ([mu] = 10.6 ± 4.1 P