The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is a federal program designed to improve the nutritional status of the population and provide employment for paraprofessional aides from the indigenous target population and an example of a change agency. Diffusion and change literature offer many models and possible personality characteristics that may be associated with effective change agents. The purpose of the study was to examine characteristics of paraprofessionals employed in the Adult phase of Virginia EFNEP and their relationship to paraprofessional effectiveness and how well they fit the diffusion model. Effectiveness for the paraprofessional was measured as homemaker success (change in nutrient intake and food behavior) and as paraprofessional performance (workload and home visit evaluation). Personality, training, and demographic characteristics of the 40 paraprofessionals were obtained through a mailed Paraprofessional Questionnaire and the Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF) Test. Demographics, food behavior and knowledge, and nutrient intake for a sample of three homemakers per paraprofessional (N=116) were obtained from EFNEP Family Records. Homophily, the measure of correspondence, was calculated by comparing each paraprofessional with their sample of three homemakers. Three personality factors (concrete thinking, impulsivity, and self-discipline) along with homophily were correlated with change in food behavior, none with change in nutrient intake, and two (concrete thinking and low tension) along with perfect match homophily were correlated with workload. There were no apparent difference in training. When all factors were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression, homophily along with three of the second-order personality factors were related to change in food behavior. One second order factor, low anxiety along with perfect match, was related to workload. Implications for practice include: (a) EFNEP paraprofessionals, in part, appear to be fitting the model of change agent effectiveness, in that homophily is influencing the homemakers and (b) low anxiety and low tension appear to be related to effectiveness and could be used in employee selection and future training. Recommendations for future study include: (a) further study into quantification of homophily and (b) investigation of relationship of characteristics to supervisor view of effectiveness. / Ph. D.

A two session nutrition education research project was conducted using basic training candidates at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Glynco, Georgia. Prior to the administration of the full scale project, a test questionnaire was developed and evaluated and a project pilot test was conducted. The first part of the project involved the basic training candidates (N=313) responding to questionnaire survey designed to measure demographic and occupational data, knowledge of nutrition (NKQ), and attitudes toward nutrition (AQ). The NKQ and AQ were individually subdivided to measure various subscales. A minimum time period of 10 calendar days was allowed to elapse prior to the administration of the second part of this project. The same participants (N=286) were randomly assigned to one of four color treatment groups. All the groups were exposed to written nutrition education material, Eater's Almanac Vol. 1, No. 21, reprinted on one of four background colors (white, blue, green, and yellow). Following a set time period to review the contents, the candidates were administered an immediate recall questionnaire (IRQ). The basic training candidates at FLETC possessed some knowledge of nutrition prior to reading the nutrition education material. Out of a possible maximum score of 20, the mean was 10.38. Food faddism issues appeared to be the weakest area. Improvement of nutrition knowledge was approximately equal among all treatment groups. The overall mean IRQ score was 13.28 with a ranqe of 12.92 to 13.60. The nutrition attitudes of the candidates were favorable with a mean cumulative score of 45.08 out of a possible 80 (2.83/item). Food faddism was the weakest area. Immediate recall scores were unaffected by the candidates attitudes (r=.122 p .05). Background color does not appear to be a factor in the improvement of immediate recall scores. Basic training candidates possess favorable attitudes toward nutrition; however, this favorable attitude did not affect immediate recall scores. Further research efforts should be tailored toward the evaluation of additional relationships between color and nutrition education, long term nutrition education recall, the relationship of nutrition knowledge and nutrition attitudes, and their effect of knowledge and attitudes upon nutrition practices for law enforcement personnel. / M.S.

A six-week nutrition education program was designed for adult African Americans and pilot-tested in one church in Farmville, Virginia. The content of this program was determined from health topics selected by the participants and based on Healthy People 2000 objectives. The topics selected were the following: 1. Hypertension Prevention and Control 2. Stress Management 3. Heart Healthy Eating and 4. Nutrition and Cancer Prevention. The Food Guide Pyramid also was incorporated into the program. Effectiveness for improving health knowledge was determined using pre-tests and a post-test, while improvements in short-term behavior pertaining to dietary intake were described by the participants themselves. Anthropometric measurements, three day diet records and a health risk appraisal were obtained from participants. In addition, the program itself and the data collected were evaluated based on several Healthy People 2000 objectives. Attendance at each session ranged from seven to twelve participants. A paired t-test indicated that no significant improvement took place in health knowledge based on the pre-test and post-test scores. However, comprehension of the Food Guide Pyramid was judged to be very good and behavioral improvement was suggested by the participants with regard to lowering their intake of sodium and fat and increasing their intake of fruit. Dietary intake from three day food records was analyzed based on the number of servings consumed from each food group in the Food Guide Pyramid This analysis indicated that only one person was meeting the minimum recommendations made by the Food Guide Pyramid. Data from eleven pre-intervention diet records indicated that over half of the group was not meeting 70 percent of the RDA for pantothenic acid, copper, and zinc. However, all eleven diet records indicated that at least 70 percent of the RDA was being met for Vitamin C, iron and magnesium. Anthropometric measurements indicated that five participants were within their desirable weight range, while five were slightly overweight and five were classified as obese according to their desirable weight ranges. Seven participants had systolic blood pressure values greater than 140 mm Hg, two of whom also had diastolic values greater than 90 mm Hg. / Master of Science

Mothercraft, or Nutritional Rehabilitation, Centers have been instituted throughout the Third World, in order to alleviate malnutrition in preschool populations. Analysis of Centers, however, is complicated by problems with evaluative methods. There is controversy over the best measure of a child's nutritional status, while confusion has also arisen from the use of static methods for dynamic data. And this author noted that maintenance of any certain Percent Standard Weight (PSW) is often wrongly interpreted as a 100 Percent Standard Weight Gain. From 1964 through 1969, when the Center in Fond Parisien was operating, agricultural improvement programs were also being conducted there. Improvements seen in the nutritional survey could not, therefore, be credited to any single program. The community child health survey indicated that the health of the preschool children who never attended the Center worsened during this period. But both surveys were subject to sampling bias, and no clear conclusions could be drawn. Fond Parisien Center data indicated initial age and PSW as statistically significant influences on the percentage points a child gained in his PSW (percent gain). Regression equations based on these two variables were found to predict the percent gain after three and four months in the Center. Indications from this data are that most children do not profit in their percent gain from a fourth month in the Center. Follow-up data was inconclusive. Comparisons between non-Center and Center children indicated no long-term benefits of the Center. Detailed long-range study of a few Centers is needed. / Master of Science

Dietary improvement was assessed using 24-hour food recall in a sample of 180 homemakers who had completed six to 18 months of instruction in the Virginia Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) to determine whether they retained dietary improvement six to 36 months after leaving the program. These homemakers provided additional information on Perceived Educational Gains and Program Benefits received from participating in EFNEP. Family factors were explored which were believed to be related to dietary change - Family Composition, Family Resource Assistance, Household Roles and Responsibilities, Family Support, and Family Diet Control. Diet Scores increased significantly (p<.01) from program Entry to Exit; greatest increases were in average daily servings from milk and fruit-vegetable groups. Slight but significant (p<.01) regression occurred in average Diet Score and servings of milk from Exit to Follow-up. Homemakers with higher Diet Scores at program Entry had higher scores at program Exit and Follow-up, and higher Program Benefit Scores. Length of time in program was not significantly associated with Dietary Improvement or Retention. High average Educational Gain and Program Benefit Scores at Follow-up were evidence that EFNEP was successful from the perspective of homemakers served. Family Composition was not associated with Dietary Improvement. Family Support emerged as the only family measure related to diet; higher Family Support Scores were associated not only with greater Perceived Educational Gains and Program Benefits, but also with higher Diet Scores at program completion and follow-up. Results of the study confirmed the Virginia EFNEP to be effective in improving diets of homemakers and sustaining these changes, and suggested a key role for family support in influencing dietary outcome and program success from the view of participants. / Ph. D.

A new, standardized food label developed by the Food and Drug Administration is appearing on products this year. Extensive research on consumer use suggests that approximately 20 % of the U.S. population, composed mainly of elderly and minorities, cannot correctly interpret the nutrition information on the label. This research explored the specific knowledge required for correct interpretation based on a model in which nutrition knowledge was organized in hierarchical levels: food groups, macronutrients and micronutrients in foods, with each level including dimensions of nutrition terminology, health relationships and related mathematics skills. An instrument was developed and pilot tested to measure knowledge at each level, as well as to measure accuracy in food label interpretation. Test items were revised based on peer input, correlational data, item analysis, and reliability. The revised instrument was then administered to purposive samples of adults (250 subjects) representing the range of nutrition knowledge measured by the test. Scores were re-analyzed to establish the validity and reliability of the new instrument. Factor analysis was used to explore the value of the original hierarchical model and to posit an additional model based on conceptual complexity. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to predict accuracy of food label interpretation based on factors depicted by both models. Findings indicated that the structures outlined in each model are useful predictors of food label interpretation, accounting for over 52 percent of the variance. Suggestions are made for further development of the test instrument and on how to incorporate learner pre-assessment in designing nutrition education interventions. / Ed. D.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12291 which requires Federal agencies to perform benefits assessments of proposed major regulations and prohibits them from taking regulatory action unless potential benefits exceed potential costs to society. A review of welfare economics literature and applications of the CBA model to health, education, and nutrition is presented. CBA for use in the Cooperative Extension Service Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is then systematically examined using the following criteria: 1) theoretical considerations - can the economic criterion appropriately be applied to EFNEP?; and 2) application of the CBA model - can it be made operational? Following the critique of application of CBA to EFNEP, conclusions are drawn as to the appropriate use of CBA or alternative techniques in evaluating EFNEP and similar programs. / Doctor of Philosophy

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Food and Nutrition, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / There is a lack of information and research on nutrition content in the curriculum for learners at the secondary school level. While nutrition content is addressed in the curriculum for Grades 8 and 9 in Natural Science, Social Science and Life Orientation, not all aspects of nutrition education are included. In Grades 10 to 12, nutrition content exists in Life Orientation, Agricultural Science, Agricultural Technology, Design Studies, Civil Technology, Electrical Technology, Mechanical Technology, Dance Studies, Information Technology, Consumer Studies and Hospitality Studies, however, not all learners are exposed to the learning areas that contain nutrition content. An important consequence of this lack of exposure to information on nutrition content is that learners who leave school after Grade 12 with inadequate nutrition knowledge potentially become adults who suffer from lifestyle diseases. This study focused on the nutrition content in the curriculum in Grades 8–12 in Kwa-Zulu-Natal in order to: evaluate the content in the curriculum referring to nutrition and to analyse the critical and developmental outcomes of nutrition education;. assess the nutrition knowledge of learners in Grades 8–12 in the Durban Central area (for the purpose of following a healthy lifestyle); determine the views of educators on the inclusion of nutrition content in the curriculum; highlight the importance of applying nutrition content in the curriculum to educate learners on disease prevention and good eating habits. The design of the study was evaluative, analytical and descriptive, and adopted both the quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The purposive sampling method was utilised for the selection of sample. The study was located in Central Durban and the sample comprised of boys and girls in Grades eight–12 at Durban High School and Ridge Park College, respectively. The sample included 343 boys and 360 girls who participated in the study. In order to establish the views of educators who teach nutrition knowledge in the curriculum, the study also included 134 educators purposively selected from 15 schools in the Umlazi District in KwaZulu-Natal. Two sets of instruments were used for data collection. The Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (NKQ)(previously developed) was used to determine the nutrition knowledge of learners in Grades eight–12 and across genders in both schools. An Educator Questionnaire (EQ) (developed for the study) on the learning areas that contained nutrition content was utilised to measure the extent to which the educators teaching those learning areas completed the curriculum content on nutrition. The Educator Questionnaire was used to ascertain the educators’ views on the importance of nutrition knowledge. The results of the research showed that the content dealing with nutrition in the school curriculum for Grades eight–12 was inadequate in certain learning areas to adequately educate learners on nutrition for the purpose of following a healthy lifestyle. The compulsory learning areas that contain aspects of nutrition knowledge were Life Orientation, Natural Science and Social Science for Grades eight and nine. In Grades10 to 12, Life Orientation is the only compulsory learning area that contains aspects of nutrition knowledge content. Nutrition knowledge investigation showed that learners are not adequately prepared in respect of all aspects of nutrition knowledge when they leave school at the end of Grade 12. The curriculum analysis of the learning areas in Grades 10 to 12 showed that the learning areas that contain nutrition knowledge are specialist learning areas not offered at all schools in the Durban Central area. The Educator Questionnaires showed that learning areas that include nutrition content in Grades 10 to 12 are not offered at all schools, thus probably negatively impacting on the learners’ level of nutrition content. The results of the Educator Questionnaire reinforced the notion that the curriculum for nutrition education was inadequate. The research concluded that the curriculum does not prepare learners adequately in respect of all areas of nutrition knowledge to enable them to follow healthy lifestyles. The results revealed that there is a correlation between the nutrition knowledge of learners and certain nutrition education aspects in the curriculum. Such results showed that the total mean scores for all the Food Based Dietary Guidelines ranged from 62.0% as the lowest, to the highest total mean score of 72.0%. However, the scores are low in critical areas of nutrition knowledge when individual scores are taken into consideration. An important consequence is that learners who leave school at the end of Grade 12 with inadequate nutritional knowledge become adults with the potential to suffer from lifestyle diseases. It is recommended that a compulsory learning area for all grades that deals exclusively with health, physical education and nutrition be introduced into the curriculum to assist learners to follow healthy lifestyles during and after school. / M

Thesis (Ph. D. (Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The aim of this study was to investigate knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary school children towards healthy diet in Dikgale Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa. This study was an intervention study at eight primary schools in Dikgale Village. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research where mixed methods research design. A total of 324 participants consisting of Grades 6 and 7 males and females was purposively selected. These participants were divided into experiment and control group after pre-test but before the intervention. This study used a 27-item questionnaire which covered, knowledge on healthy diet, attitudes, practices, subjective norm and self-efficacy questions as well as focus group interviews. The main findings of the study comprise the following: (i) Learners in the experiment condition did not reflect more health-related practices (F(1.315)=0.20; p>887), i.e., when considering co-variables and changes in health attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy; and (ii) After intervention, there was a significant increase (F(1.315)=115.72; p<0.001) in health-related knowledge on the experiment group, i.e., when considering co-variables and changes in health attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy. In addition to this significant increase, 58.3% of the differences between both groups seemed related to the intervention with regard to changes in knowledge acquisition. However, there was no significant increase on both health knowledge and health practices on the control group. The results suggested that, even if there can be changes in knowledge due to intervention, healthy practices may be difficult to change mainly because knowledge alone cannot decrease the prevalence of health-related conditions. As a result, this study suggest that the curriculum should cover Food knowledge practice so as to persuade learners to practice healthy diet. Also, School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) should play their role in emphasizing the importance of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines in schools. Future interventions are therefore encouraged to include a moderate intensity intervention by trained professionals and feasibility of involving educators, SGBs and SMTs, particularly in policy adherence. Therefore, this study proposed a healthy food intervention strategy incorporating the Theory of Planned Behaviour in order to justify the knowledge, attitude and practices of children in healthy diet. Intervention should adopt the Training Partnership Model wherein children, parents, educators are trained by health professional on adherence to healthy diet. / Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad (VLIR)

Equitable access to healthy food is a multifaceted issue faced by many underserved populations. Intimate understanding of individual communities’ food practices allows for the creation of community-based interventions that elaborate upon specific needs and desires. Through collaborative research and action, this study aims to become better informed of the current eating habits of community members participating in The Happy Kitchen program at Wesley Rankin Community Center in West Dallas, how those habits have changed over time, and the factors that contribute to access and utilization of a healthy diet. This research seeks to develop a dialectical relationship between the participants and GROW North Texas to design relevant cooking classes and interventions in West Dallas; thereby increasing access to and consumption of nutritious food.