| Prevalence of heart disease, cancer, and obesity is increasing. All of these diseases have a direct link to dietary intake. The ultimate goal of nutrition education is improved long-term health, therefore, this project determined that nutrition education, of at least eight weeks in duration, resulted in a diet that more closely reflects the RDAs for the individual's sex-age group.; Three studies were conducted as part of this research. First, University of Missouri---Columbia students enrolled in Food Science and Human Nutrition 34 (FSHN 34) were sampled three times throughout the sixteen-week duration of their coursework---day one, following eight weeks of education, and following sixteen weeks of education---in the fall semester of 1996. The second study compared nutrition education students with a national cohort of similar aged participants---CSFII 1994--1996. The third study compared nutrition education students with other University of Missouri students with no nutrition education, eight weeks of nutrition education, and sixteen weeks of nutrition education in a prior semester. Each of these studies was able to show that with at least eight weeks of nutrition education, nutrient intake was significantly improved to more closely reflect the RDA. This study was unique in to the literature in two ways: (1) the focus was on nutrient intake following nutrition education and (2) students were studied once the education had been completed to determine long-term behavior change.; Research has shown that positive behavior change, including a diet closely reflecting the RDA, sustained long-term will reduce the risk of nutrition-related disease states. This project demonstrated repeatedly that FSHN 34 at the University of Missouri---Columbia is able to influence positive changes in dietary behavior after eight weeks of instruction. This project also revealed that students who had completed the sixteen-week course, at least one semester previous, had their daily diet revert to one similar to students who had no nutrition education. This study has concluded that behavior change is transient. Unless the behavior change can be sustained over a longer period of time, students will not benefit from a reduction in disease risk. |
