Healthy Snacks for You

Audrey Hess, RD, LDNHealthy Lifestyles Instructor, Vida Charter School

NUTRITN 572: Community Nutrition University of Massachusetts, Amherst

December 7, 2011

Background• Risks for developing chronic diseases are increased for obese

children (Buscemi, Beech & Relyea, 2011).

• A multitude of personal, peer and family factors affect children’s food choices (Lloyd, Logan, Greaves & Wyatt, 2011; Husby, Heitmann & O’Doherty, 2009; Rosas, et al., 2009).

• Research suggests greater impact on food habits from educating young children about food as compared to adults (Fernandes, Bernardo, Campos &

Vasconcelos, 2009).

• School-based nutrition interventions have shown positive outcomes in affecting children’s food-related behaviors (Slawta and DeNeui, 2010; DeVault, et al., 2009; Gortmaker, et al., 1999; Diker, Walters, Cunnignham-Sabo & Baker, 2011).

Community Assessment Summary

Assessment of the community and the target population shows factors contributing to knowledge and practice regarding snacking behaviors: – Cultural, environmental, parental factors (A Contreras, personal communication,

October 6, 2011)

– Socioeconomic factors (A Yetsko, personal communication October 7, 2011)

– Personal food preferences (focus group responses; A Yetsko, personal communication October 7, 2011)

– Time and convenience (A Yetsko, personal communication October 3, 2011; A Contreras, personal communication, October 6, 2021 and J Landon, personal communication October 7, 2011)

– Educational opportunities (A Yetsko, personal communication October 3, 2011; A Contreras, personal communication, October 6, 2021 and J Landon, personal communication October 7, 2011)

Theoretical Framework

This classroom-based nutrition education lesson implements multiple concepts from the Social Cognitive Theory (Boyle & Holben, 2010).

– Observational learning will occur as the students perform food preparation skills modeled by the community nutritionist.

– Behavioral capability will be enhanced by the hands-on practice in food preparation.

– Self-efficacy regarding snack choices as well as confidence in regards to ability to prepare healthy snacks will be enhanced by the information discussed about healthy snacks as well as the practical snack-preparation activity.

SettingVida Charter School is a bilingual dual-immersion charter school with a holistic approach to academics and healthy lifestyle choices (Vida Charter School, n.d.).

Target Audience

• 4th and 5th grade class (25 students)

• Any parents able to attend

Goals and ObjectivesGoals:

– Children will gain knowledge about healthy snack options.– Children will practice or achieve confidence in preparing a healthy

snack.– Children, with their families, will implement healthy snack ideas at

home.Objectives:

– Students will collectively identify 25 percent more healthy whole-grain, vegetable and fruit snack options after as compared to before the lesson.

– Ninety percent of students will identify a comfort level of “a little bit” or “very” comfortable with practicing safe handling of food, reading a recipe and preparing a healthy snack.

– 100 percent of children in class will receive a snack idea and recipe sheet to take home.

Healthy Snacks for You Lesson Outline

• Pre-lesson survey (5 minutes)• Introduce topic: Healthy Snacks for You (3 minutes)• Lead children in brainstorming healthy snack ideas from different sections

of Chef Ann’s Healthy Kid’s Meal Wheel (Cooper, 2011) (5 minutes)• Prepare recipe for Vida Veggie Dip

– Form groups of five students per group plus parents of any of those students who are in attendance. (2 minutes)

– Wash hands and clean table (5 minutes)– Read recipe (5 minutes)– Prepare recipe (10 minutes)– Sample recipe along with whole grain bread and vegetables (5 minutes)

• Closure: Healthy snacks can include a variety of foods and are fun to make!

• Post-lesson survey (5 minutes)

Snack Brainstorming with Chef Ann’s Healthy Kids’ Meal Wheel (Cooper, 2011)

Recipe Preparation

The students had previous instruction regarding safe food handling practices and background information about different groups of foods.

Students worked together to read and follow the recipe for Vida Veggie Dip.

Vida Veggie Dip Students used four different

types of dried beans and each decided what herbs and/or spices to add to their version of the dip.

One student asked if she could return for a third serving!

Results: Ability to name healthy snacks

Students Parents

Pre (n=24) Post (n=22)

change pre- to

post

Pre (n=3) Post (n=2) change pre- to

post

Compiled responses --average number of

responses per person

Compiled responses –average number of

responses per person

Q1: Fruits 5.92 4.36 -26 % 6.67 2.5 -63%

Q2: Vegetables

4.67 2.59 -45 % 5.33 1.5 -72%

Q3: Whole grains

1.58 1.73 +9% 2.67 2.5 -6%

Pre- and post-lesson survey questions 1, 2 and 3 (Q1, Q2, Q3) asked respondents to list all the healthy fruit (Q1), vegetable (Q2) and whole grain (Q3) snacks that they could.

Results: Rankings of comfort related to making healthy snacks

Students Parents

Pre (n=24)(average

response)

Post (n=24) (average

response)

Pre (n=3) (average

response)

Post (n=2) (average

response)

Q4: Using safe food practices

2.5 2.48 3.0 3.0

Q5: Reading a recipe

2.5 2.57 3.0 3.0

Q6: Preparing healthy snack

2.5 2.62 3.0 3.0

Pre- and post-lesson survey questions 4, 5 and 6 (Q4, Q5, Q6) asked respondents to identify a level of comfort with using safe food handling practices (Q4), reading a recipe (Q5) and preparing a healthy snack (Q6). (1=“not comfortable”; 2=“a little bit comfortable”; 3=“very comfortable”).

Results: Evaluation of lesson

Students (n=22) Parents (n=2)

Average response Average response

Q7: Community nutritionist’s presentation of material

2.71 3.0

Q8: Overall impression of class

3.50 3.0

Post-lesson survey question 7 (Q7) asked respondents to rate how well the lesson’s material was presented by the community nutritionist. (1=“confused me”; 2=“kind-of explained things”; 3=“explained things well”). Post-survey question 8 asked respondents to rate their overall impression of the lesson (1=“boring”; 2=“OK”; 3=“I liked it.”; 4= “It rocked!”)

Take-home tool: 100 percent of the students in the class received a bilingual English-Spanish snack idea sheet with the recipe for the Vida Veggie Dip.

Lessons learned: What went well• There was a lot of engaged energy from students.

• Students practiced safe food handling methods.

• Students used creativity in preparing their foods.

• Despite not securing parent volunteer commitments prior to the lesson, 20 percent of students had a parent present for at least part of the lesson.

Lessons Learned: What could have gone better

• A room dedicated to the activity

• Allotment of more time

• A more streamlined evaluation tool

Conclusions• Healthy Snacks for You facilitated

– idea-sharing about healthy snacks – practice in the steps of making a healthy snack– enjoyment of a healthy in-class snack– parent-child engagement surrounding healthy eating.

• I look forward to further development of all of the above areas in future nutrition lessons with this and the other groups of students at Vida Charter School.

References• Boyle MA & Holben DH. (2010). Community nutrition in action: An entrepreneurial approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage

Learning.• Buscemi J, Beech B M, & Relyea G. (2011). Predictors of obesity in Latino children: Acculturation as a moderator of the relationship

between food insecurity and Body Mass Index percentile. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 13 (1), 149-154. doi 10.1007/s10903-009-9263-6

• Cooper A. (2011). Chef Ann’s healthy kid’s meal wheel. Retrieved October 25, 2011 from http://www.chefann.com/html/tools-links/meal-wheel.html

• DeVault N, Kennedy T, Hermann J, Mwavita M, Rak P & Jaworsky A. (2009). It’s All About Kids: Preventing overweight in elementary school children in Tulsa, OK. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109, 680-687. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2008.12.021

• Diker A, Walters L M, Cunningham-Sabo L, & Baker SS. (2011). Factors influencing adoption and implementation of Cooking with Kids, an experiential school-based nutrition education curriculum. Journal of Extension, 4 (1). Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://www.joe.org/joe/2011february/a6.php

• Fernandes PS, Bernardo CO, Campos RM & Vasconcelos FA. (2009). Evaluating the effect of nutritional education on the prevalence of overweight/obesity and on foods eaten at primary schools. Jornal De Pediatria, 85 (4), 315-321. doi:10.2223/JPED.1917

• Gortmaker SL, Cheung LW, Peterson KE, Chomitz G, Cradle JH, Dart H, Fox MK, Bullock RB, Sobol AM, Colditz G, Field AE, Laird N. (1999). Impact of a school-based interdisciplinary intervention on diet and physical activity among urban primary school children: Eat well and keep moving. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 153 (9):975-83. Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://archpedi.ama-assn.org.silk.library.umass.edu/cgi/reprint/153/9/975

• Husby I, Heitmann B L, & O'Doherty JK. (2009). Meals and snacks from the child's perspective: The contribution of qualitative methods to the development of dietary interventions. Public Health Nutrition, 12 (6) 739-747. doi: 10.1017/S1368980008003248

• Lloyd JJ, Logan S, Greaves C J, & Wyatt KM. (2011). Evidence, theory and context--using intervention mapping to develop a school-based intervention to prevent obesity in children. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8 (1), 73. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-73

• Rosas LG, Harley K, Fernald LC, Guendelman S, Mejia F, Neufeld LM, & Eskenazi B. (January 01, 2009). Dietary associations of household food insecurity among children of Mexican descent: results of a binational study. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109, 12, 2001-9. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2009.09.004

• Slawta JN & DeNeui D. (2010). Be a fit kid: nutrition and physical activity for the fourth grade. Health Promotion Practice, 11 (4), 522-529. doi: 10.1177/1524839908328992

• Vida Charter School. (n.d.) Retrieved October 8, 2011 from www.vidacharterschool.com.