A Food Behavior Checklist (FBC) was developed, validated, and pilot-tested with homemakers in Virginia's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The FBC was designed to measure nutrition-related practices that are taught in EFNEP, but cannot be measured by the 24-hour recall. During development, 20 EFNEP paraprofessionals in Virginia and 20 randomly selected state EFNEP coordinators helped to identify items that are most important in evaluating the overall effectiveness of EFNEP, and which could be used to establish content, face, and construct validity of a behavior assessment instrument. The Food Behavior Checklist contained 30 items, and responses were recorded on a Likert scale with four response levels: 0 = "never or seldom", 1 = "sometimes",2 = "usually", and 3 = "almost always". Cronbach-alpha revealed a reliability coefficient of 0.86. During the field test phase of this study, the FBC was used before and after EFNEP intervention to collect data on the nutrition-related practices of 147 low-income homemakers in three rural counties and one urban area in Virginia. In this phase, the experimental group, which consisted of 79 homemakers, received computer-aided feedback on their dietary practices, via a Diagnostic Report, which was used as a teaching tool. Paraprofessionals thoroughly explained the content of the diagnostic report to the homemaker at program entry and program exit. The control group, which consisted of 68 homemakers, did not receive computer-aided feedback on their dietary intakes, in that no mention was made of the computer print out to them. Results indicated that this instrument (FBC) may be useful in evaluating the overall effectiveness of EFNEP nationwide and may be useful in other nutrition programs. No significant differences were observed in the nutrient intake or Food Behavior Checklist practice change scores between the group who received computer-aided feedback and the group who did not received computer-aided feedback. The author concluded that the dietary analysis contained in the computer generated Diagnostic Report needs to be simplified if it is to become an effective tool with EFNEP homemakers. More research is needed on the use of computerized diet analysis as a teaching tool with low-income homemakers. / Ph. D.

There is a lack of treatment guidelines for how to address the impact of nutrition on clients’ mental health. Prior research is limited regarding psychologists’ practices of nutrition counseling and has mostly focused on practices of dieticians and medical doctors. The purpose of this study was to examine psychologists’ beliefs and attitudes about nutrition counseling, amount of training and use of nutrition counseling, self-rated knowledge in the use of nutrition counseling and perceived benefits and barriers to using nutrition counseling. Data was collected using an online survey of 76 licensed psychologists’ training in nutrition and use of nutrition counseling. Findings show that most of the psychologists talk to their clients about nutrition, nearly half report using nutrition counseling, but few received training in nutrition while in graduate school. A statistically significant difference was found between those who use nutrition counseling and those who do not regarding self-reported knowledge, belief about therapy, benefit of outcome, importance of nutrition in the context of mental health, importance of discussing nutrition with clients and confidence as a barrier to using nutrition counseling in practice. A statistically significant difference was found between those who have training in nutrition and those who do not regarding self-reported knowledge, benefit of outcome, and importance of discussing nutrition with clients. The relationship between use of nutrition counseling and training in nutrition was statistically significant. As might be expected, a larger proportion of those who have training in nutrition use nutrition counseling than the proportion of those without training. The result highlights the need for a collaborative approach to client care. Psychologists reported several themes, including need for more training and guidelines for psychologists’ use of nutrition counseling.

Acompanha: Produção técnica / Percebe-se que uma orientação nutricional com as crianças com Síndrome de Down (SD) é o caminho para melhorar os distúrbios relacionados à alimentação, necessitando de ferramentas educacionais que os auxilie de forma prática, estimulando a aprendizagem significativa destas crianças. Contudo, a pirâmide dos alimentos demonstra de maneira generalizada, as proporções alimentares que a população deve seguir para ter uma alimentação equilibrada, neste sentido, ressaltar a importância de metodologias diferenciadas para o ensino da educação nutricional voltada às crianças com SD fazem-se necessário quando analisamos as pré-disposições genéticas destas crianças em desenvolverem doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNT) como: diabetes mellitus, hipertensão arterial sistêmica, obesidade, colesterolemias, patologias estas que podem ser tratadas ou prevenidas com a mudança nos hábitos alimentares. A estimulação precoce é uma aliada na aprendizagem significativa sobre a educação nutricional, visto que, quanto mais precoce os alimentos saudáveis forem apresentados às crianças com SD, mais estimuladas elas serão em praticarem a mudança no comportamento alimentar melhorando a sua saúde. O processo de socialização e ensino aprendizado das crianças com deficiência no âmbito escolar necessita de um ensino diferenciado que as impulsionem o desenvolvimento psicomotor, potencializando as relações interpessoais. Fundamentados nesta evolução significativa da criança com SD os materiais interativos para o ensino da educação nutricional voltado as crianças com SD, promove a junção da aprendizagem significativa através da aprendizagem significativa focado na educação nutricional, consequentemente a mudança nos hábitos alimentares melhorando a saúde e prevenindo as DCNT. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo elaborar uma metodologia de materiais interativos para o ensino da educação nutricional voltado as crianças com SD. / Nutritional counseling with children with Down Syndrome (DS) is the way to improve eating disorders, requiring educational tools that help them in a practical way, stimulating the meaningful learning of these children. However, the food pyramid demonstrates in a generalized way the food proportions that the population must follow in order to have a balanced diet, in this sense, to emphasize the importance of differentiated methodologies for the teaching of nutritional education for children with DS are necessary when we analyzed the genetic pre-dispositions of these children in developing chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus, systemic arterial hypertension, obesity, cholesterolemias, which can be treated or prevented by changing eating habits. Early stimulation is an ally in meaningful learning about nutrition education, since the earlier the healthy foods are presented to children with DS, the more stimulated they will be in practicing change in eating behavior, improving their health. The process of socialization and teaching learning of children with disabilities in the school environment requires a differentiated teaching that fosters psychomotor development, enhancing interpersonal relationships. Based on this significant evolution of the child with SD, the interactive materials for the teaching of nutritional education aimed at children with DS, promotes the joining of meaningful learning through meaningful learning focused on nutritional education, consequently changing eating habits, improving health and preventing DCNT. The present work had as objective to elaborate a methodology of interactive materials for the teaching of the nutritional education directed to the children with SD.

This study explores the possible efficacy of a low carbohydrate and high fat nutritional intervention (LCHF) as a treatment possibility aiming to improve the ability of self-control and regulation in the context of carbohydrate-addiction. The study first outlines why increased simple carbohydrate consumption has been implicated as a risk-factor in numerous chronic conditions, and then explores the possibility that a reduction of such consumption could lower general medical expenditure in the healthcare sector of already overburdened institutions, especially in developing countries like South Africa. Since the neurobiological evidence for food addiction is compelling, this study investigates the impact of a low carbohydrate and high fat eating (LCHF) regimen by measuring the change in the severity of addictive behaviour in relation to a reduced carbohydrate consumption. Results indicate that a LCHF nutritional intervention lessened addictive behaviour after just 30 days, resulting in a statistically significant decrease in addiction symptoms from day 1 to day 30. The weight and BMI values of the participants recorded at the end of the study showed a reduction from those obtained during the pre- treatment stage, and the self-perceived ‘feeling in control’ also improved in all participants after the intervention. The introduction of a LCHF nutritional intervention presents a relatively cost-effective treatment and preventative measure to combat carbohydrate over-consumption and its numerous health complications, and it is therefore hoped that the positive findings of this study will foster further research, using larger samples, into this type of nutritional intervention against addictive eating behaviour. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Social Work / MA(SS)(MENTAL HEALTH)

Social Work / MA(SS)(MENTAL HEALTH)