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ERIC Number: EJ1178051
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1559-5676
EISSN: N/A
The Sustained Impact of Teacher Encouragement on Elementary Students' Vegetable Snack Consumption: Initial Findings from a Wisconsin Study
Jamelske, Eric M.; Vernon, Erin
Journal of Child Nutrition & Management, v42 n1 Spr 2018
Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of teacher encouragement on elementary school student vegetable snack consumption. Methods: Twelve Wisconsin elementary school teachers were randomly assigned different levels of encouragement procedures during vegetable snack time. The consumption levels of 218 students were measured for three different vegetables over an eight week period (September 19-November 18, 2016). All vegetables were served eight times with teachers providing varying levels of assigned encouragement for the first six servings and refraining from any form of encouragement during the seventh and eighth servings. Consumption outcomes were measured by weighing individual snack cups pre and post snack time. This study reports on the first, seventh, and eighth servings of each vegetable. Results: Independent-samples t-tests showed statistically significant higher proportions consumed for day one vegetable servings for the highest level of teacher encouragement vs. no encouragement across all vegetables (tomatoes 0.563>0.265, p<0.01; carrots 0.845>0.618, p<0.01); peppers 0.507>0.274, p<0.01). Statistically significant higher consumption remained for the high level encouragement group compared to no encouragement at the seventh (tomatoes 0.502>0.173, p<0.01; carrots 0.787>0.543, p<0.01; peppers 0.514>0.305, p<0.01) and eighth (tomatoes 0.506>0.184, p<0.01; carrots 0.800>0.590, p<0.01; peppers 0.443>0.288, p=0.05) serving for each vegetable even though all encouragement had ceased. Applications to Child Nutrition Professionals: Teacher encouragement is essential when initially implementing elementary school vegetable snack programs because of the strong positive and potentially lasting impact on student consumption.
School Nutrition Association. 120 Waterfront Street Suite 300, National Harbor, MD 20745. Tel: 301-686-3100; Fax: 301-686-3115; e-mail: servicecenter@schoolnutrition.org; Web site: http://schoolnutrition.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Wisconsin
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A