Journal of nutrition education最新文献

In response to welfare reform and the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program's (FSNEP) goal of increasing clients' self-sufficiency, a literature review and small exploratory study were conducted to gain insight into a potential approach that would go beyond current nutrition education methods. Interviews with 17 FSNEP participants showed a widespread willingness to share food-related skills that others wanted to learn, some interest in cooperating on food-related projects, and frequent cases of social and geographic isolation. Based on these preliminary findings, we suggest the development and evaluation of nutrition education programs that appreciate and build on existing abilities of participants, provide opportunities for self-directed learning and activities, and build social support, social networks, and trust among participants while linking them to the broader community.

Objective

To determine the usefulness of variables from psychosocial models of health behavior in explaining fat-related dietary behavior among a sample of Chinese Americans.

Design

A survey questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of Chinese Americans and analyzed for descriptive statistics and relationships among variables.

Subjects/Settings

Participants were 600 healthy individuals, ranging from 25 to 70 years of age, living in New York City.

Variables Measured

Demographic factors, degree of acculturation, food preferences, and 13 social psychological scales derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Healthy Belief Model, and Social Cognitive Theory. Dependent measures assessed were intention to reduce dietary fat and behaviors related to the selection of reduced-fat diets.

Statistical Analyses

Descriptive statistics, Pearsons' correlation coefficients, t-tests, one-way analyses of variance, and multiple regression analyses were used.

Results

Attitude, overall health concern, and self-efficacy accounted for 58% of the variance in behavioral intention for the entire sample. Attitude, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy accounted for 19% of the variance in the prediction of dietary fat reduction behaviors. In general, a gradient was seen in the increased predictiveness of each regression model by degree of acculturation of the immigrants to American culture: predictiveness (R2) for behavior ranged from 15% for the least to 34% for the most acculturated. Acculturation was significantly related to declines in the influence of habit and of social norms. These effects were not seen by length of residency.

Implications

Nutrition educators should assess the degree of acculturation of groups with whom they work and recognize that the degree of acculturation impacts the relative importance of various psychosocial variables in fat reduction behaviors.

Nutrition educators are exploring Web-based strategies for delivering course material. This report describes an effort to use computer-mediated communication between medical students and experts. A “virtual seminar” designed to help students apply nutrition knowledge to patient care was added to an existing traditional clinical skills course. There are few models for online nutrition education. Since these efforts are expensive in time, money, or both, it is important to share preliminary findings, including new methods of evaluating participation and effectiveness. Although medical student activity in the seminar was greater than anticipated, the return rate for the online evaluation survey was disappointing.

A variety of nutrition education interventions and social marketing initiatives are being used by the Food Stamp Program to improve food resource management, food safety, dietary quality, and food security for low-income households. The Social-Ecological Model is proposed as a theory-based framework to characterize the nature and results of interventions conducted through large public/private partnerships with the Food Stamp Program. In particular, this article suggests indicators and measures that lend themselves to the pooling of data across counties and states, with special emphasis on systems, environment, and public policy change within organizations at the community and state levels.