Background: Nutrition counseling and education provided by registered dietitians (RD) is an efficacious service for improved health outcomes. Limitations of in person education in clinical settings ...include RD access, time constraints, and lack of hands-on education tools. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) technology may be able to improve the patient experience by providing meaningful educational experiences. Methods: Participants (n=44,29 female, BMI=25.31 ± 5.7, Age=27.6 ± 13.9) were randomized to receive iVR or an in-person nutrition education experience both of which focused on the nutritional principles of portion size and calorie density. Both educational materials were developed by an RD and similar scripts were used for consistency between the two versions. However, the virtual reality program allowed for interactive experiences with food items. This included activities such as selecting and cutting foods to adjusting portion sizes. The portion control self-efficacy survey was administered preand post-experience. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine the effect of education on portion size self-efficacy and knowledge. Results: Portion size self-efficacy improved across time points in both in-person (n=26) and VR (n=18) education conditions (p=0.006). No main effect of condition or interaction between condition and time was shown to be significant, indicating both interventions improved scores similarly. Conclusions: iVR nutrition education shows promise to be similarly effective to an in-person RD experience. This technology is best applied in conjunction with RD medical nutrition counseling and can serve a wide range of educational topics. Future research is needed to validate this tool in clinical settings and among at-risk populations that may have lower baseline portion size-self efficacy.
Background: Prevalence of childhood obesity is accelerating worldwide due to COVID-19. Nutrition education at a younger age is important for children to maintain a normal weight and form balanced ...eating habits. We examined whether nutrition education in school can help children control their weight and properly eat school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. Methods: We conducted nutrition education for 2nd and 3rd-grade elementary school students (n=450, girls 47%) for 6 months. Noncontact nutrition education materials were provided every month, and taste education was conducted through face-to-face classes. Body composition, nutrients by school meal intake were investigated at baseline and 6 months. Results: Underweight students decreased (9.8% to 6.0%), while students with normal weight (5th<BMI<85th percentile) increased (73.6% to 76.4%) after education (p=0.001). Change rates of % body fat were higher in the underweight group (UG) (14.8±20.2%) and normal weight group (NG) (9.9±25.4%) than in the overweight and obese group (OG) (1.5±8.9%) (p=0.004). School meal intake rates were increased in UG (63.7±10.0% to 75.6±5.1%), NG (68.8±11.7% to 76.8±6.0%), and OG (75.2±10.9% to 78.5±6.2%) (p<0.05). Energy intake was increased in UG (333.2±64.4kcal to 424.8±38.1kcal), NG (352.9±65.1kcal to 438.0±49.5kcal), and OG (403.0±59.2kcal to 464.6±51.2kcal) (p<0.001). Fat intake was increased in UG and NG, but there was no significant difference in the OG. Protein and calcium intake were also increased in UG and NG (p<0.05). Conclusions: Through school-based face-to-face and non-contact nutrition education, their weight was changed to a normal level, and it contributed to increasing the intake of balanced school meals. ·Funding source: This research was supported by a fund (No. 2020ER640102) by Research of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
This paper describes the 30-year evolution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) to provide evidence to support our perspective that SNAP-Ed has earned its position as a ...pillar of the public health infrastructure in the US. Legislatively designated as a nutrition education and obesity prevention program, its focus is the nearly 90 million Americans with limited income. This audience experiences ongoing health disparities and is disproportionately affected by public health crises. The SNAP-Ed program works to reduce nutrition-related health disparities at all levels of the Social-Ecological Model, follows a robust evaluation framework, and leverages strong partnerships between state-based practitioners, state agencies, and the US Department of Agriculture. The expansion of SNAP-Ed would enable the program to reach more Americans so that our nation can end hunger and reduce diet-related health disparities.
To evaluate the effectiveness of a behaviourally focused nutrition education (NE) intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to ...eating habits and activity levels in 10–12-year-old adolescents in Mumbai, India.
School-based cluster randomised controlled trial. The experimental group (EG) received weekly NE and three parent sessions over 12 weeks; no sessions were conducted for the control group (CG). The theoretical framework of HBM and focus group discussion results guided the development of behaviour change communication strategies and NE aids. KAP were measured using a validated survey instrument, administered at baseline and endline in EG and CG. Paired and independent t tests determined within-group and between-group changes in pre–post scores.
Two aided and two private schools that were randomly allocated to either an EG or CG.
Adolescent boys and girls (n 498; EG n 292 and CG n 206).
EG reported improvements in mean knowledge (39·3%), attitude (7·3 %), diet (9·6 %) and activity practice (9·4%) scores from pre to post intervention. No significant changes were observed in CG. Significant improvements in scores associated with perceived benefits, barriers and self-efficacy, breakfast and vegetable consumption, and moderate-to-vigorous activities were observed in EG.
Integrating NE into the academic curriculum and adopting evidence-based lessons that entail targeted information delivery and participatory activities can improve knowledge, foster right attitudes and facilitate better eating and activity-related practices in Indian adolescents.
MyPlate is a tool designed to educate the general US population on how to eat in alignment with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; yet, there is a lack of data on who has heard of MyPlate over ...time.
The objective of this analysis was to examine the prevalence of awareness of MyPlate within the US population and if awareness changes differentially over time.
This study was a serial, cross-sectional survey.
Three survey waves of data (2013-2018) were used from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of adults aged 20 years or older (n = 17,023).
Percentage of the US adult population who had heard of MyPlate was measured and stratified by sex, age, citizenship status, education, household food security status, income, receipt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and receipt of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits.
Global Wald tests were used to assess whether prevalence of awareness of MyPlate differed by sociodemographic characteristics. Tests of homogeneity using likelihood ratio tests of nested logistic regression models were used to assess whether differences in awareness of MyPlate by various sociodemographic characteristics changed over time from 2013 to 2018.
Twenty percent (19.5%) (n = 875) of the analytic sample of participants aged 20 years and older had heard of MyPlate in 2013-2014, 24.5% (n = 1,020) in 2015-2016, and 24.6% (n = 1,086) in 2017-2018. Awareness of MyPlate changed differentially over time (P value < .1) from 2013 to 2018 by income, household food security status, and receipt of SNAP benefits, with slower increases in awareness for households with lowest income over time, narrowing of differences in awareness by household food security status over time, and persistent differences in awareness by receipt of SNAP benefits over time.
These results highlight the current low awareness of MyPlate, disparities in awareness of MyPlate immediately after implementation by sociodemographic characteristics, and increases in awareness over time at differential rates within levels of income, food security status, and ever receipt of SNAP benefits. Given that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 are currently in development, new strategies should be considered to disseminate tools that translate the updated Dietary Guidelines in such a way that reach the general population equitably upon implementation within the United States.
Background: At 39.4%, Oklahoma has the 5th highest rate of obesity in the United States. Despite a state plan to reduce obesity and the recent expansion of OK Medicaid to cover bariatric surgery, ...Oklahoma continues to have one of the highest rates of obesity in the country. This qualitative community-based participatory research study utilizes the PhotoVoice method to better understand contributing factors and potential solutions to obesity in Oklahoma. Methods: Adults with obesity were recruited via the primary care clinic of a university health system in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Participants were educated on the PhotoVoice method and asked to take photographs throughout their daily life that captured their experience with obesity, with an emphasis on factors that may be uniquely challenging in the state of Oklahoma. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant to allow participants so discuss the meaning of each submitted photograph and propose potential solutions to the obesitypromoting phenomena identified in their photography. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively for common themes and potential actionable solutions to the factors identified as contributing to obesity. Results: In preliminary qualitative analysis, several common themes were identified by individuals with obesity as contributing to high rates of obesity in the state. These include poor infrastructure to allow for outdoor physical activity, difficulty accessing healthy food options due to the prevalence of food deserts, the high financial cost of nutritious foods, and limited access to physicians and nutrition education. Proposed solutions to combat obesity include integrating formal nutrition education into primary care offices, improving access to nutrition and culinary education for individuals utilizing WIC and SNAP benefits, and investment in accessible infrastructure for outdoor exercise. Conclusions: Community-based participatory research provides unique insight into the causes of Oklahoma's high rates of obesity, and allows those effected by obesity to propose potential actionable solutions to community stakeholders. Regardless of where they live, those who care for patients with obesity can better do so by utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to combat the precipitants of obesity specific to their community.
Aim: We investigated changes in serum phospholipid fatty acid compositions with intake of the Japan Diet (JD) (higher consumption of fish, soybeans, vegetables, seaweed/mushrooms/konjak, and ...unrefined cereals with reduced consumption of animal fat, meat and poultry with fat, sweets and alcoholic drinks) recommended by the Japan Atherosclerosis Society. Methods: A randomized parallel controlled clinical trial on JD intake was conducted on Japanese patients with dyslipidemia. Nutrition education, based on the JD or partial JD (PJD) at baseline and at 3 months, was provided and the participants were followed up for 6 months. Fatty acids comprising serum phospholipids were measured in the JD (n=44) and PJD (n=44) groups. Results: Fatty acid intakes of C20:4, C20:5 and C22:6 increased in the JD group as compared with the PJD group. The percentages of serum phospholipid, C22:1 and C20:5 increased, while those of C18:1, C20:3(n-6) and C20:4(n-6) decreased in the JD as compared with the PJD group at 3 months. Changes in the phospholipid concentrations of C20:5, C22:5 and C22:6 reflected those intake volumes. Serum phospholipid C20:5 and C22:6 showed inverse correlations with C18:1, C18:2, and C20:3(n-6) at baseline and the changes at 3 and 6 months. In contrast, no correlation was observed between C20:4(n-6) and those n-3 fatty acids. The ratios of fatty acid concentrations, C16:1/C16:0 and C18:1/C18:0, decreased, but the ratio of C20:4(n-6)/C20:3(n-6) increased in the JD group. Conclusion: Nutrition education on the JD changed serum phospholipid fatty acid profiles in favor to prevent against cardiovascular risk factors in patients with dyslipidemia.
Introduction: Pregnant women living in industrial areas are exposed to higher levels of toxic substances, pollutants, and other chemicals; this is exacerbated by the pandemic conditions. Improving ...the nutritional status of pregnant women can be pursued through nutritional education for pregnant women. This study aimed to determine the differences in nutrition fulfilment patterns of pregnant women, before and after nutrition education.Methods: This study used quasi-experimental research with a one group pre post-test design. The samples were 51 pregnant women in industrial areas. Treatment in this study was nutrition education by empowering health cadres. The instrument of this research is an observation sheet that has been tested for validity and reliability. Data analysis used a statistical paired t-test.Results: Knowledge of pregnant women increased by 5.21% after treatment, and behaviour increased by 5.2%. The t-test showed that the the nutrition education model for pregnant women in industrial areas could significantly increase the knowledge (p-value = 0.000) and improve the behaviour (p-value = 0.000) of pregnant women.Conclusion: Nutrition education for pregnant women provided by health cadres is proven to increase knowledge of pregnant women about nutrition and behaviour of fulfilling nutrition during pregnancy in a pandemic situation. During the pandemic, pregnant women can increase knowledge related to nutrition fulfilment through the assistance of health cadres without worrying about being exposed to viruses from care providers.
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