Background: Nutrition education delivered by classroom teachers has become a popular intervention designed to combat childhood obesity. However, few qualitative studies have explored nutrition education with teachers Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how elementary teachers describe their experience with nutrition education. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Semistructured interviews, observations, and document analysis were conducted with 10 teachers who delivered nutrition education in their classrooms. Inductive coding was used to determine invariant constituents, reduce constituents to categories, and cluster categories into themes. Reliability and validity were accomplished through intercoder agreement, audio recording, triangulation, bracketing, and member checking. Results: Results identified 5 core themes related to roles teachers play in nutrition education, the importance placed upon nutrition, motivation for supplementary activities, barriers, and a triadic relationship between students, teachers, and curriculum. Discussion: Findings reveal interactions within the nutrition education experience in which teachers balance barriers with their value of nutrition education and motivation to help students make healthy choices. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators should work with classroom teachers at the program design, implementation, and evaluation stages of curriculum development to better address needs and facilitate the delivery of high-quality nutrition education for students.
Food preparers in families with young children are responsible for safe food preparation and handling to prevent foodborne illness. To explore the food safety perceptions, beliefs, and practices of primary food preparers in families with children 10 years of age and younger, a mixed methods convergent parallel design and constructs of the Health Belief Model were used. A random sampling of 72 primary food handlers (36.2±8.6 years of age, 88% female) within young families in urban and rural areas of two Midwestern states completed a knowledge survey and participated in ten focus groups. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. Transcribed interviews were analyzed for codes and common themes. Forty-four percent scored less than the average knowledge score of 73%. Participants believe children are susceptible to foodborne illness but perceive its severity to be low with gastrointestinal discomfort as the primary outcome. Using safe food handling practices and avoiding inconveniences were benefits of preventing foodborne illness. Childcare duties, time and knowledge were barriers to practicing food safety. Confidence in preventing foodborne illness was high, especially when personal control over food handling is present. The low knowledge scores and reported practices revealed a false sense of confidence despite parental concern to protect their child from harm. Food safety messages that emphasize the susceptibility and severity of foodborne illness in children are needed to reach this audience for adoption of safe food handling practices.
Foodborne illnesses remain a common problem in the United States. Focus group results indicated that lack of knowledge and improper handling of leftovers were common among food preparers in families with young children. The USDA‐recommended storage time for leftovers was used to develop and conduct a food safety social marketing campaign, 4 Day Throw Away using both traditional and social media. A procedural model for developing a theory‐based nutrition education intervention and the Health Belief Model were used to design, implement, and evaluate this campaign. The #4 mascot made numerous public appearances (in person and TV) to convey the 4 Day Throw Away message; 10000 magnets were distributed; and 500 posters with tear‐off note card were posted in the traditional campaign. Magnets and note card directed recipients to a website (4984 visits) with food safety information about leftovers. The social media campaign included 4 YouTube videos (11759 views); a Facebook page (166 users with over 21240 post views); and 51 followers on Twitter. The use of multiple media channels increased awareness and intention to change health behaviors especially among parents of children 10 and younger. Both traditional and social media methods in the 4 Day Throw Away campaign reached the intended audience suggesting that interventions using a mix of media channels broaden the reach and potential for intended behavior change.
Bread flour was spiked with folic acid (1.40 mg/lb or 3.08 μg/g of flour) and processed into bread by the sponge and dough method. Changes that occurred to added folic acid and endogenous folate contents through different processing stages, including sponge formation, proofing, and baking, were assessed by reversed‐phase ion‐pair HPLC combined with UV and fluorometric detection. Sample extraction required α‐amylase and rat plasma deconjugase digestion, and sample preparation required purification by solid‐phase extraction. Added folic acid was measured by monitoring UV absorption at 280 nm. Four selected forms of endogenous folates including tetrahydrofolate (THF), 5‐formyl‐THF, 10‐formylfolate, and 5‐methyl‐THF were identified and quantified throughout the bread processing using a fluorescence excitation wavelength of 290 nm and emission wavelength of 350 or 450 nm. Data indicate a relatively good stability of added folic acid and native folates to the baking process, and increased endogenous folate contents in dough and bread as compared with the flour from which they were made.
Use of safe food handling practices in the home could reduce the number of foodborne illnesses. The objective of this project was to obtain baseline data on the safe food handling knowledge and practices of consumers to aid in the development of effective educational programmes. A food handling questionnaire was developed and completed by 426 Nebraskan respondents. Knowledge and practice questions were based on the most important contributory factors in reported foodborne illness outbreaks. Knowledge scores (correct responses) ranged from 2 to 29 with a mean of 20 f 4. When compared with the knowledge score, the respondents' education level, where they lived and their sex were statistically signijicant. Almost all (96%) of the respondents stated that they practised safe food handling when persons were infected. Approximately halfof the respondents indicated that they practised safe food handling when handling contaminated raw foods and using foods from unsafe sources. About 45% of the respondents inappropriately lefr foods at room temperature. One-third of the survey respondents improperly held hot foods. Cross-contamination was a concept understood by 75% of the respondents. Results indicate thatfood safety education should be targeted on specific groups who are less knowledgeable about safe food handling practices. Results also indicate that a number of respondents knew proper food handling concepts but did not put those concepts into practice. Therefore, increasing the adoption of safe food handling practices by consumers should become an important aspect for educators in food safety educational programmes.
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