Nutrition education

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Nutrition education is a combination of learning experiences designed to teach individuals or groups about the principles of a balanced diet, the importance of various nutrients, how to make healthy food choices, and how both dietary and exercise habits can affect overall well-being. [1] It includes a combination of educational strategies, accompanied by environmental supports, designed to facilitate voluntary adoption of food choices and other nutrition-related behaviors conducive to well-being. [2] Nutrition education is delivered through multiple venues and involves activities at the individual, community, and policy levels. Nutrition Education also critically looks at issues such as food security, food literacy, and food sustainability. [2]

Contents

Overview

Nutrition education promotes healthy-eating and exercise behaviors. [3] The work of nutrition educators takes place in colleges, universities and schools, government agencies, cooperative extension, communications and public relations firms, the food industry, voluntary and service organizations and with other reliable places of nutrition and health education information. [2] Nutrition education is a mechanism to enhance awareness, [3] as a means to self-efficacy, surrounding the trigger of healthy behaviors. [4]

Stages of Nutrition Education

There are generally three main phases of nutrition education: a motivational phase, an action phase, and an environmental component. [2]

In the motivational stage, the goal is to increase awareness and improve the motivation of the audience to choose good nutrition habits. Individuals focus on why they should make changes to their diets. This stage aims to help the audience recognize the benefits of making healthier choices and the potential risks of not taking action.

In the action phase, the goal is to promote the ability to act on the motivations to make healthier choices. Individuals focus on how to make changes. This component consists of helping individuals bridge the gap between an intention and action. Here people make goals and specific action plants in order to foster this change.

Finally, in the environmental component, nutrition educators and policymakers work together to create and promote better environmental support on the community, regional, and national levels. The goal of this environmental change is to make healthier foods more accessible to a wider population in order to increase the opportunities and likelihood for individuals to make healthy choices.

Nutrition Education in the United States

National Education and Training (NET) program

In 1969, a recommendation from the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health stated that nutrition education should be part of school curriculums. [5] It was authorized under the Children Nutrition Act. In 1978, the Nutrition Education and Training (NET) program was created by the USDA, with the purpose of giving grants to help fund nutrition education programs under state educational systems. [5] Funding for the program was targeted towards school children, teachers, parents, and service workers. [6] In its inaugural year, the program was funded with $26 million gradually decreasing to $5 million in 1990. [5] In 1996, NET was restored to temporary status. [7]

Current government oversight

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is tasked with providing nutrition education and establishing dietary guidelines based on current scientific literature. [8] Through many of their programs, children and low-income citizens can access food that otherwise would be unavailable. [8] Two agencies within the USDA that deal with nutrition education are the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). [9] The main objectives of the Food and Nutrition Service are to help reduce the risk of obesity and ensure that hunger is no longer a concern for US citizens through a variety of assistance programs. [9] Some of the programs of the FNS include WIC, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and school meals. [9] The CNPP is responsible for developing dietary guidelines based on scientific evidence and promoting them to consumers through nutrition programs such as MyPlate. [10] Nutrition education complements the USDA's assistance programs and is administered by the FNS. This federally funded nutrition education is based on the guidelines developed by the CNPP. [11]

In addition, the USDA also administers the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. [11] This program focuses on reaching those in low-income households to address health disparities associated with prevalent societal challenges such as hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and obesity. EFNEP aims to help low-income families improve their nutritional well-being through interactive lessons in a holistic nutrition education approach. [12] The four core content areas within the EFNEP are Diet Quality and Physical Activity, Food Resource Management, Food Safety, and Food Security. [12]

Legislation

The Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act of 2016 was a bill introduced in the United States Congress aimed at enhancing child nutrition programs and education. [13] The key provisions of the bill included expanding access to school meal programs, promoting nutrition education, streamlining administrative processes, and addressing food waste. Overall, the bill sought to improve the health and well-being of children by ensuring they have access to nutritious meals and education about healthy eating habits.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 passed by the Obama administration in 2010 included provisions that led to reforms that established minimum requirements that all food and beverages sold on schools' campuses must meet. [14] The new standards include limits on the amount of sugar, sodium, and calories from saturated fat that specific foods may contain per item. [14]

The Public Health Service Act was enacted in 1944 and broadened the scope of the Public Health Service functions. [15] IMPACT (The Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act) was a piece of legislation introduced in the Senate in 2005 aimed to amend the Public Health Service Act in reducing obesity among children. [16] It called for a grants to include the identification, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders and obesity. [17]

Examples of government agencies that incorporate nutrition education into their programs, include

MyPlate diagram created to show a healthy daily diet USDA MyPlate green.svg
MyPlate diagram created to show a healthy daily diet

In school

K-12

Nutrition education programs within schools try to create behaviors that prevent students from potentially becoming obese, developing diabetes and cardiovascular issues, and forming negative emotional issues by educating students on the aspects of a healthy diet, emphasizing the consumption of lower fat dairy options and both fruits and vegetables. [21] Studies support that good nutrition significant contributes to the well-being of children and their learning ability, thus leading to better school performance. [3] As most children eat between one and two of their meals at school, school-based nutrition education programs offer opportunities for students to practice making healthy eating decisions. [21] However, due to influences outside of the school environment such as home, cultural, and social environments, there may be a lack of visible desired behavior changes. [21] The National Center for Health Statistics October 2017 data brief, found that the prevalence of obesity among youth ages 2–19 has increased from 13.9 to 18.5 percent from 1999 to 2016. [22]

College

With eating behaviors, such as missing meals throughout the day and engaging in potentially dangerous self-prescribed weight loss methods, combined with a diet consisting of foods high in sodium, cholesterol and saturated fats, college students' dietary habits can potentially negatively affect their current and future health. [23] A typical college student's diet does not contain enough vitamins, minerals or fiber. [23] Limited in both the consumption of fruit and vegetables, research has shown that enrollment in a university nutrition class, emphasizing the consumption of fruits and vegetables and certain dietary habits that prevent chronic disease, significantly increased the students consumption of fruits and vegetables compared to their baseline consumption levels. [23]

Current issues

Childhood obesity is a public health concern. In a recent study done by medical researchers, from 2011-2012, 8.4% of young children ages 2–5, 17.7% of kids ages 6–11, and 20.5% of teens ages 12–19 are categorized as obese in the U.S. [24] Besides nutrition education, environmental factors such as a decrease in physical activity and increase in energy intake have led to more sedentary children. [25] This increase in body mass index has led to hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes among other chronic diseases. [25] Poor nutrition habits and lack of physical activity have led to this increase of obesity that leads from childhood to adulthood. [25] A lack of funding and insufficient resources have led to poor nutrition education. [26] Lack of funding has led to schools developing contracts with private companies such as soda and candy companies that allow vending machines and other products as well and has created a monopoly in public schools. [27]

Nutrition based policies use a trickle-down methods: federal, regional, state, local and school district policies. [26] Teachers have a more direct influence in nutrition education. [26] There are not a lot of studies that show how nutrition education policies affect the teachers in the schools they are meant to influence. [26]

Additional publications

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food and Nutrition Service</span> U.S. federal anti-hunger agency

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to address the issue of hunger in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy diet</span> Type of diet

A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.

The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, created on December 1, 1994, to improve the health and well-being of Americans by establishing national dietary guidelines based on the best science available. CNPP promotes dietary guidance by linking scientific research to the nutritional needs of the American public through the function of USDA's Nutrition Evidence Library, which it created and manages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National School Lunch Act</span> U.S. federal law passed in 1946

The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools. The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses, while at the same time providing food to school-age children. It was named after Richard Russell Jr., signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946, and entered the federal government into schools' dietary programs on June 4, 1946.

The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) is a United States federal law (act) signed on October 11, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to help meet the nutritional needs of children." The National School Lunch Program feeds 30.5 million children per day. NSLP was operated in over 101,000 public and nonprofit private schools in 2007. The Special Milk Program, functioning since 1954, was extended to June 30, 1970 and incorporated into the act. The act also provided Federal funding assistance towards non-food purchases for school equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food policy</span> Area of public policy

Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health needs. This often includes decision-making around production and processing techniques, marketing, availability, utilization, and consumption of food, in the interest of meeting or furthering social objectives. Food policy can be promulgated on any level, from local to global, and by a government agency, business, or organization. Food policymakers engage in activities such as regulation of food-related industries, establishing eligibility standards for food assistance programs for the poor, ensuring safety of the food supply, food labeling, and even the qualifications of a product to be considered organic.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are healthy or who are at risk for chronic disease but do not currently have chronic disease. The Guidelines are published every five years by the US Department of Agriculture, together with the US Department of Health and Human Services. Notably, the most recent ninth edition for 2020–25 includes dietary guidelines for children from birth to 23 months. In addition to the Dietary Guidelines per se, there are additional tools for assessing diet and nutrition, including the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which can be used to assess the quality of a given selection of foods in the context of the Dietary Guidelines. Also provided are additional explanations regarding customization of the Guidelines to individual eating preferences, application of the Guidelines during pregnancy and infancy, the USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review, information about the Nutrition Communicators Network and the MyPlate initiative, information from the National Academies about redesigning the process by which the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are created, and information about dietary guidelines from other nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social determinants of obesity</span> Overview of the social determinants of obesity

While genetic influences are important to understanding obesity, they cannot explain the current dramatic increase seen within specific countries or globally. It is accepted that calorie consumption in excess of calorie expenditure leads to obesity; however, what has caused shifts in these two factors on a global scale is much debated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School Breakfast Program</span> Federally subsidized US program providing breakfast at K-12 schools

The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a federally funded meal program that provides free and reduced cost breakfasts to children at public and private schools, and child care facilities in the United States. All children in participating schools and residential institutions are eligible for a federally subsidized meal, regardless of family income. However, free meals must be offered to children from families with incomes below 130% of the federal poverty level, and reduced price meals to those with family incomes between 130% and 185% of the poverty level. Those families over 185% poverty level have to pay full price for their meals which are set by the school. Even though the children have to pay for their own meals, the school is still reimbursed to some extent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obesity in the Middle East and North Africa</span>

Obesity in the Middle East and North Africa is a notable health issue. Out of the 15 fattest nations in the world as of 2014, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), five were located in the Middle East and North Africa region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010</span> Federal statute

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The law is part of the reauthorization of funding for child nutrition. It funded child nutrition programs and free lunch programs in schools for 5 years. In addition, the law set new nutrition standards for schools, and allocated $4.5 billion for their implementation. The new nutrition standards were a centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity. In FY 2011, federal spending totaled $10.1 billion for the National School Lunch Program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA, for the first time in 30 years, opportunity to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and Michelle Obama were a step in transforming the food pyramid recommendation, which has been around since the early 1990s, into what is now known as "MyPlate".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of fast food</span>

Criticism of fast food includes claims of negative health effects, animal cruelty, cases of worker exploitation, children-targeted marketing and claims of cultural degradation via shifts in people's eating patterns away from traditional foods. Fast food chains have come under fire from consumer groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a longtime fast food critic over issues such as caloric content, trans fats and portion sizes. Social scientists have highlighted how the prominence of fast food narratives in popular urban legends suggests that modern consumers have an ambivalent relationship with fast food, particularly in relation to children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MyPlate</span> US federal nutrition guide since 2011

MyPlate is the current nutrition guide published by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, and serves as a recommendation based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It replaced the USDA's MyPyramid guide on June 2, 2011, ending 19 years of USDA food pyramid diagrams. MyPlate is displayed on food packaging and used in nutrition education in the United States. The graphic depicts a place setting with a plate and glass divided into five food groups that are recommended parts of a healthy diet. This dietary recommendation combines an organized amount of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. It is designed as a guideline for Americans to base their plate around in order to make educated food choices. ChooseMyPlate.gov shows individuals the variety of these five subgroups based on their activity levels and personal characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social class differences in food consumption</span>

Social class differences in food consumption refers to how the quantity and quality of food varies according to a person's social status or position in the social hierarchy. Various disciplines, including social, psychological, nutritional, and public health sciences, have examined this topic. Social class can be examined according to defining factors — education, income, or occupational status — or subjective components, like perceived rank in society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School meal programs in the United States</span> Overview of school meal programs in the United States of America

In the United States, school meals are provided either at no cost or at a government-subsidized price, to students from low-income families. These free or subsidized meals have the potential to increase household food security, which can improve children's health and expand their educational opportunities. A study of a free school meal program in the United States found that providing free meals to elementary and middle school children in areas characterized by high food insecurity led to increased school discipline among the students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Food Service Program</span> Federal program reimbursing organizations for childrens meals

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) began in 1968. It was an amendment to the National School Lunch Act. Today, the SFSP is the largest federal resource available for local sponsors who want to combine a child nutrition program with a summer activity program. Sponsors can be public or private groups, such as non-profit organizations, government entities, churches, universities, and camps. The government reimburses sponsors for the food at a set rate. There are still communities that have not created a Summer Food Service Program in their community. For those individuals that want to help ensure children have meals during the summer, they can get more information from the USDA or their state government agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obesity and the environment</span> Overview of environmental factors affecting the incidence of obesity

Obesity and the environment aims to look at the different environmental factors that researchers worldwide have determined cause and perpetuate obesity. Obesity is a condition in which a person's weight is higher than what is considered healthy for their height, and is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Obesity can result from several factors such as poor nutritional choices, overeating, genetics, culture, and metabolism. Many diseases and health complications are associated with obesity. Worldwide, the rates of obesity have nearly tripled since 1975, leading health professionals to label the condition as a modern epidemic in most parts of the world. Current worldwide population estimates of obese adults are near 13%; overweight adults total approximately 39%.

Research into food preferences in older adults and seniors considers how people's dietary experiences change with ageing, and helps people understand how taste, nutrition, and food choices can change throughout one's lifetime; particularly when people approach the age of 70, or beyond. Influencing variables can include: social and cultural environment, gender and/or personal habits, and also physical and mental health. Scientific studies have been performed to explain why people like or dislike certain foods and what factors may affect these preferences.

Mary Story is Professor of Global Health and Community and Family Medicine, and director of Education and Training, Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University. Dr. Story is a leading scholar on child and adolescent nutrition and child obesity prevention.

Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body's dietary needs. Well-maintained nutrition includes a balanced diet as well as a regular exercise routine. Nutrition is an essential aspect of everyday life as it aids in supporting mental as well as physical body functioning. The National Health and Medical Research Council determines the Dietary Guidelines within Australia and it requires children to consume an adequate amount of food from each of the five food groups, which includes fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry, whole grains as well as dairy products. Nutrition is especially important for developing children as it influences every aspect of their growth and development. Nutrition allows children to maintain a stable BMI, reduces the risks of developing obesity, anemia and diabetes as well as minimises child susceptibility to mineral and vitamin deficiencies.

References

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  8. 1 2 Food and Nutrition, USDA. Accessed 29 November 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 About FNS Food and Nutrition Service. Accessed 29 November 2018.
  10. ↑ About CNPP | Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/about-cnpp . Accessed 29 November 2018.
  11. 1 2 Office of Policy Support; Food and Nutrition Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture (May 2023). USDA Nutrition Education Coordination Report to Congress: Fiscal Year 2022 (PDF). pp. 3–9.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. 1 2 NIFA Program Leadership (2021). The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Policies (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. pp. 3–5.
  13. ↑ Education & The Workforce Committee (2016). Bill Summary: The Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act (PDF).
  14. 1 2 National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program: Nutrition Standards for All Foods Sold in School as Required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Federal Register, 28 June 2013
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  25. 1 2 3 Ruebel, Meghan L., et al. Outcomes of a Family-Based Pediatric Obesity Program - Preliminary Results. p. 12.
  26. 1 2 3 4 McCaughtry, N.; Martin, J. J.; Fahlman, M.; Shen, B. (2012). "Urban health educators' perspectives and practices regarding school nutrition education policies". Health Education Research. 27 (1): 69–80. doi: 10.1093/her/cyr101 . PMID   22072137.
  27. ↑ Ebbeling, Cara B.; Pawlak, Dorota B.; Ludwig, David S. (2002). "Childhood obesity: Public-health crisis, common sense cure". The Lancet. 360 (9331): 473–482. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09678-2. PMID   12241736. S2CID   6374501.
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