Graduation date: 1999

D.Ed. (Education Management) / The link between dietary practices and the prevalance as well as the prevention of various diseases have been proven beyond any doubt; the guidelines of the Prudent Diet were subsequently put forward to reduce many of these nutrition-related risk factors. Due to inadequate numbers, qualified nutrition educators cannot target their efforts to reach all vulnerable groups and everybody is thus not in a position to glean sound nutrition knowledge, enabling them to plan -healthy diets. Teachers could fill this gap, provided they are well versed in nutritional matters. Eating habits are usually formed in chidhood but the establishment of sound practices is a dynamic life-long process. Exposure to accurate and convincing information could benefit eating behaviour, but incorrect nutrition messages may have a confusing and detrimental influence upon people's choice of foods. Magazines and parents are reported as the major sources of nutrition information as well as misinformation for school children and students. School subjects are seldom singled out as being of significant value. These findings suggest the dire need for teachers to be properly trained in nutrition. Since students are notoriously ignorant on nutrition related issues and tend to follow a typical but often poor diet, this study aimed at determining the effect of a nonformal consumer orientated nutrition education programme on the nutrition knowledge and eating habits of student teachers at the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). All the students in the 1993 Didactics class (representative of the student teachers at this university) were selected as an appropriate target audience. Nutrition education can only be effective and efficient if the particular needs of the target group are addressed by means of a popular and acceptable teaching strategy. A nutrition education programme based on the guidelines of the Prudent Diet and similar in format to magazine articles, seemed to be an appropriate teaching method. Questionnaires were developed to collect and compare pre- and post-test information on nutrition knowledge, levels of interest, eating habits and individual queries or comments. Test questions were based on common misconceptions as responded in the literature, and food frequency questionnaires included 20 items of which prudent lowered or increased intakes are recommended. Actual and perceived nutrition and consumer knowledge scores were analyzed for sex, age, residence, sports activities, personal opinions and sources of information by means of paired t-tests. These data contributed towards interpreting the test results, assessing knowledge needs, gauging interest and formulating the contents and format of the learning material.

The relationship between nutrition and athletic performance has become a topic of increasing interest in college athletics. This study assessed the effect of nutrition education on the nutrition knowledge and dietary adequacy of female and male college athletes through a pre-test/post-test, control group design. Six weekly lessons were offered to the experimental groups. For female athletes, a two sample t-test indicated significant differences on gain scores for the experimental group (p

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the problem solving method applied to a self-instructional material in nutrition education. A comparative evaluation design was employed to determine the value of a problem solving model reflected in a commercially developed material, referred to as the 'Calcium Calculator'. Data were collected using a quasi-experimental randomized group pretest, posttest research design. A panel of judges then evaluated the impact of the problem solving method in nutrition education. Three research questions were generated for the purpose of this study. The first involved comparing impacts produced by the two forms of the 'Calcium Calculator'. Measures of impact, selected based on learner objectives of the 'Calcium Calculator', were learners': attitudes toward dietary calcium and osteoporosis; perception of problem solving ability and self-reported dietary calcium intake. The second research question was posed to investigate the nature of relationships between learners' levels of self-esteem and measures of instructional impact. Influences of selected biodemographic variables on change in the measures of impact were explored in the third research question. Eighteen groups of women (n=241) from community centres were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: Groups A and B were exposed to active problem solving methods while group C viewed a film, a passive information-oriented instructional technique. The latter group was included in.the study since active learning was hypothesized to result in greater impact than passive learning. Pretest data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and food intake form. Posttest data were collected an average of 4.7 weeks later using a modification of the pretest questionnaire which included a self-esteem scale, along with the food intake form. Forty-four percent of women (n=l06) who completed pretest questionnaires returned for the posttest session. Participants in all three intervention groups experienced increases in attitude scores from pre- to posttest, and these changes were significant within groups B and C. Perceptions of problem solving ability were maintained within intervention groups B and C, yet decreased significantly within intervention group A. Significant increases in self-reported dietary calcium intakes occurred in all three intervention groups among non-pregnant women whose pretest dietary calcium intakes were below their Recommended Nutrient Intake. Impacts produced by form A and B of the 'Calcium Calculator' were significantly different on only one dependent variable: perception of problem solving ability (p≤0.05). Changes in the dependent variables produced by problem solving versus non-problem solving interventions were not significantly different. Changes in dietary calcium intake and attitude toward dietary calcium and osteoporosis were not significantly correlated with self-esteem levels. However, positive significant correlations were identified between learners' levels of self-esteem and change in learners' perceptions of their problem solving ability (p≤0.0l). Measures of impact were infrequently influenced by the biodemographic variables. Of the associations that were identified, most involved dietary characteristics of participants. Yet change in perception of problem solving ability was also affected by a combination of three demographic variables: age, employment status and education. A panel of users (n=9) of educational materials was asked to make judgements on selected study results. Although judges did not distinguish between impacts produced by the two problem solving materials, they acknowledged that: (1) an important relationship exists between self-esteem and learners' perceptions of their problem solving ability and (2) the problem solving method is valuable when directed to specific kinds of learners. The quasi-experimental research design used in this study appeared appropriate for the evaluation of innovative instructional methods. Two main advantages of the design were its comparative nature and its use of a panel of experts to judge the relative effectiveness of both forms of the 'Calcium Calculator' as well as the value of the problem solving method and self-esteem in material design. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This research is concerned with dietitians' experiences of education and practice, which together constitute dietitian identity. The author, herself a dietitian and dietetic educator, recruited twelve female dietitians to participate in individual interviews and collaborative workshops where they shared their ' experiences and reflections on the themes of the research. This dissertation is arranged in three panels to achieve multiple perspectives on the research findings. The first panel explores the potential of using reflexive autoethnography as a research method. The second panel enacts an autoethnographic tale emphasizing the complexities of dietetic education and practice. The third panel is an academic rendering of the research that posits a theory of dietitian performativity. Arranging the findings as a textual triptych protracts the complex interplay of the research themes. In particular, participants enter the profession sustained by promises of being able to make a difference in the lives of others with respect to nutritional health. Dietetic practice comes to be understood as performative through a series of uncontested, repetitive acts. In the mode of dietitian performativity, dietitians' lived realities are sometimes found to be discontinuous from promises of professionalism. Dietetic education, while not considered solely responsible for generating these promises, might operate to sustain or amplify their effects. Dietitians' passion for dietetics is open to question when performativities are found discrepant from promises. Profoundly melancholic expressions are associated with dietitians' inability to engage in liberatory practice, despite believing such practices were achievable. Melancholia instigated dietitians' desire to leave the profession. An imagined, embodied curriculum depicting what might result if dietetic students, educators, and practitioners acknowledge the relationality, emotionality, and promises of their profession is offered in response. The author calls for a renegotiation of what counts as knowledge in dietetic education through the asking of "Who am I?" In posing this question, the dietitian engages in a reflexive turn towards self-recognition such that 'doing' (performativity) emerges from 'being' (identity) and potentially nutrition discourse expands. Dietitian performativity initiated through critical social discourse begs the question of what it means to be human while endeavouring to embrace the joys, complexities, and contradictions that are dietetic education and practice. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The findings of Nutrition Canada, a national nutrition survey, have emphasized the importance of nutrition education to the public. It is a fact that the health professional most often disseminating nutrition information to the public is the public health nurse. Thus there was a need to investigate the nutritional knowledge of public health nurses, as well as their attitudes toward nutrition, and the kind of nutrition information they are offering to the public. This study involved testing the dependent variables: nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices of public health nurses and comparing these with the independent variables: educational background, recency of acquisition of nursing related degree, years of nursing experience, age, qualification of the educators who taught nutrition in the training curriculum, years of home economics studied in high school, number of nutrition related communications with a nutritionist, and other types of nutrition experience or education. The nature of the relationship of knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and the interrelationships of knowledge and attitudes with practices were determined. Data were collected by a mail questionnaire which yielded a response rate of 85.1%. Coding and computer analysis of data resulted in percentage mean scores for the tests of nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 75.79, 89.48, and 65.08 respectively. The areas of nutrition knowledge in which the public health nurses scored lowest were nutrition and pregnancy-related to requirements and supplementation, knowledge about nutrient requirements, nutrient composition of foods, and weight reduction. Tests of nutrition attitudes revealed that the nurses had poor attitudes toward the importance of meal planning. Public health nurses demonstrated poor practices in counselling the public in budgeting, vegetarian diets, and dietary manipulation of fats. Nurses showed poor personal nutrition practices in meal management and in adhering to the recommended cereal group intake of the B.C. Daily Food Guide. Regression analysis indicated that the factors related to nutrition knowledge were educational background, recency of acquisition of nursing related degree, and years of experience. Factors related to nutrition attitudes were age, home economics training in high school, number of consultations with a nutritionist, and attendance at nutrition courses in continuing education. Nutrition practices were related to opportunities for consultation with a nutritionist and attendance at nutrition conferences. Partial correlation analysis of the dependent variables revealed significant and direct relationships between knowledge and attitudes, practices and attitudes, and practices and knowledge. The weakest relationship was between knowledge and attitudes. The strongest relationship was between knowledge and practices. Recommendations for a more effective inservice nutrition education program for public health nurses were made. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

"Nutrition is fast becoming a popular science among many age groups. Young people, especially athletes, are becoming more aware of the correlation between diet and health. Also, with such a great amount of emphasis placed on physical beauty, more people are interested in the study of nutrition for vanity purposes"--Introduction. / "August, 1978." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Department of Home Economics Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Jane Gatewood White, Major Professor. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-42).

No description available.

The general objective of this study was that of giving food, health, and nutrition education via educational lessons based on a diagnostic of teachers' and children's knowledge at the Cuambo school. The study is descriptive and transverse and lasted from October 2000 through June 2001. The study included 100% of the attending children and teachers of the Cumabo community school, being 42 in number. Variables were: topics on eating, nutrition, and health that complete the plan of basic studies, along with training of students and teachers. Since the project was eminently educational, it implied carrying out the respective educational lessons with adaptations for each community. There were 10 educational lessons done for each community, which consisted of topic, audience, message, objective, techniques, materials, preliminary preparation, initial evaluation, classroom development, review, reinforcement, final evaluation, and analysis. The support educational materials used were the Healthy Schools pamphlets, which were made into the principal source of education.

There is a lack of public awareness in regards to nutrition education because of the limited amount of visits made to the WIC office by these participants. Take home material was designed to reinforce the curriculum taught in the WIC classroom. Learning the skills provided, these WIC families will discover new ways to promote family togetherness and opportunities to discuss and implement healthy eating and living habits.