(P04-002-23) Knowledge and Practice: Are Middle School Adolescents Aware of General Nutrition Recommendations and How Can the Education System Better Help Their Knowledge Base, Graduate
Nutrition & Strength Coach Kinitro Fitness Houston, Texas, United States
Disclosure(s):
Taylor Fetzer, M.S. Nutrition: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: A nine-week nutrition education program dedicating one-hour of direct instruction on a weekly basis in conjunction with the physical education program in middle-school aged students significantly increases overall general nutrition knowledge in a school without any formal education program covering nutritional health.
Methods: A school-based pre-post questionnaire including 49 items was given to students in grades five through eight in a charter school located in Houston, Texas tying in Texas Education Knowledge Standards for Health.
Further education was given through “Do Now’s” on physical education days and homework assignments, quizzes, a mid-unit test, and two projects. The same general nutrition knowledge questionnaire was given to all participating students on the first and last days of the program to assess knowledge loss or gain based on percentage of questions answered correctly out of 49 total.
The nutrition education was broken down into two Units with Lesson Plan Topics and corresponding TEKS. The pre and post questionnaire was adapted from two questionnaires relating to general nutrition concepts, along with information provided within the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 43 items were included in the questionnaire and were made up of matching/grouping and multiple-choice questions. The questionnaire was given on the platform “Go Formative” which autocorrected each answer. Student knowledge was analyzed by sex, race, and grade level. Further knowledge was assessed on two categories of questions, “Macronutrients,” and “Other”
Results: Nutrition knowledge gain in males was not found to be significant (p=.051) while females nutrition knowledge gain was (p < .05). Seventh and eighth grade students’ nutrition knowledge gain were both found to be significant (p < .05). School-wide results across all grade levels were also found to be significant (p < .05). Asian and American Indian/Alaskan Native students were the only races to show increased nutrition knowledge gain (p < .05).
Conclusions: In conclusion, implementation of a nine-week nutrition education program with one-hour of teacher led instruction accompanied by homework, projects and examinations, and “Do Now’s” significantly increases overall general nutrition knowledge, even in children without any prior formal nutrition education.
