Adolescents, who have been shown to be at nutritional risk, and having poor nutritional knowledge and sporadic eating habits, are in need of comprehensive, sequential nutrition education. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a nutrition education unit for inclusion in the health education curriculum of secondary schools. The two-week unit which included nutrient density concepts was evaluated in two high schools in Utah. Data from a mail survey of health educators (n=74) revealed their need for nutrition training and resources, and guidance for integrating nutrition into health classes. High school health teachers were provided with teacher training materials, lesson plans and instructional aids. Four treatment groups (n=92) were exposed to the nutrition unit and two control groups (n=45) received no nutrition information during the test period. All subjects were pre- and post-tested to determine change in knowledge of and attitude toward nutrition, and completed food frequency questionnaires for purposes of measuring behavioral changes. The treatment groups improved their nutrition test scores by 12 percentage points from pre- to post-test. Students were shown to reliably mark semantic differential scales measuring attitude. Overall attitude toward nutrition improved slightly. The nutrient density concept was mastered by students and proven to be an effective nutrition education tool. Post-food frequency data showed a consistent trend of decreased frequency of almost all food categories for controls as well as treatment groups, illustrating the importance of control groups in nutrition education studies. Participating health teachers positively evaluated the unit and indicated that their nutrition training and resource needs were sufficiently met.

Men die earlier than women in the majority of the countries in the world, including Canada. Men also seek medical care less frequently than their female counterparts and often rather late in the stage of their disease. As well, family physicians traditionally have had very poor, if any, training in male health issues during their residency training. This is true for Canadian family physicians, but also for most family physicians in the world. A literature search was performed to evaluate the training in male health issues around the world. There appears to be a scarcity of literature on this topic. An assessment was conducted to determine how much male health training is delivered in Canadian Family Medicine Residency Training Programs. It turned out to be none to very little in these programs. At the same time, a needs assessment was conducted to determine the need for male health training in these programs and what the content of such training should be. Based on the information obtained through this needs assessment, a draft male health curriculum was created and circulated to an Expert Panel for their critique. The feedback of the Expert Panel was then incorporated into the final version of a proposed curriculum on Male Health for Family Medicine Residency Training Program.

Health curriculum traditionally (re)produces obesity discourse, a fusion of biomedical and moral perspectives of weight and fat. This weight-centered approach to bodies may perpetuate weight stigmatization, indirectly supports a culture of thinness, and contradicts other health messages concerning bodies. A Health At Every Size® (HAES®) approach is an alternative, multidimensional health-centered approach that can reconcile the incongruent messages in obesity and eating disorder discourses and may reduce weight stigmatization. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a college personal health curriculum module to promote healthy bodies of all sizes. Discourse positions of teaching assistants were explored through interviews and provided an understanding of their values and teaching methods regarding weight and health. A HAES®-based curriculum module was developed for college personal health classes at a Midwestern university. Quasi-experimental design was used to compare attitudes toward HAES® principles among students who received the alternative, HAES®-based curriculum module versus those receiving a traditional weight management curriculum. Pre- and posttest attitudes of students and teaching assistants were assessed using the Health and Weight Attitudes Scale developed for this study. Teaching assistants provided evaluation of the HAES® module in a focus group. While teaching assistants' discourse positions varied, most used obesity discourse to talk and teach about bodies and weight. Alternative discourses were most common when teaching assistants discussed eating disorders or body image. Students' attitudes at pre-test were slightly positive and did not differ significantly between comparison and intervention groups. Intervention group students' attitudes were significantly more positive than comparison group students' attitudes at posttest. Intervention group teaching assistants reported primarily positive experiences with the module. Teaching assistants rely primarily on obesity discourse to teach about weight and bodies but are receptive and positive when offered an alternative method. A HAES® curriculum module can increase positive attitudes of students and teaching assistants toward promotion of size acceptance and multidimensional health for people of all sizes.

The leadership of several health districts in the rural Appalachian region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia has expressed interest in addressing the educational needs of their employees. The majority of these workers have not completed an undergraduate degree, but they desire to further their education. The College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University has begun preliminary discussions with these leaders to identify potential approaches to address these needs. There appear to be four approaches that should be explored by regions facing similar challenges: on-line or on-line/on-site degree completion programs; course clusters provided for academic credit; partnerships with community colleges; and training programs offered for nonacademic credit.