Intervening in dietary habits of African-American children: An impact evaluation of the Every Day, Lots of Ways Interdisciplinary Nutrition Education Curriculum

Lifelong dietary habits begin in childhood. Efforts to impact eating patterns, therefore, should be directed at young children. The school environment is ideal for teaching young children about improving healthy eating habits because large numbers of students can be targeted in a cost effective manner, and instruction is a natural part of the school day. Previous literature in the area of prevention and health promotion indicates that the provision of information alone does not effectuate positive behavioral change. Therefore, instructional practices should be supplemented with strategies that promote behavioral change. The purpose of this study was to conduct an outcome evaluation of a classroom-based nutrition education program with African-American students living in an urban environment. The Every Day, Lots of Ways: Interdisciplinary Nutrition Curriculum (EDLW; Pennsylvania Department of Education, 1996) was used to instruct students in nutrition education. The classroom lessons were reinforced with behavior change strategies during lunchtime for kindergartners and first graders. Additionally, caregiver newsletters were sent home to inform parents about nutrition messages that promote healthy life styles. Program acceptability, implementation integrity, and efficacy were examined. Students who participated in the school-based nutrition program demonstrated significant gains in knowledge relative to baseline and to control participants. Behavior change was more difficult to impact; however, interesting eating behavior changes were noted among kindergarten and first graders. The curriculum was acceptable to students, teachers, and parents. Teachers implemented the program with an acceptable degree of integrity. Finally, caregiver newsletters used to supplement the school-based activities were well received by the caregivers; however, they did not significantly impact caregivers' knowledge, nutrition attitudes or food preparation behaviors. Alternative strategies to include caregivers through partnerships in school-based health promotion programming were discussed.