Background: In response to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the US Department Agriculture updated the nutrition standards for school meals to improve nutrition-related health outcomes for children. This study assesses the association between implementation of the updated nutrition standards and child weight. Methods: A quasi-experimental…

Background: Parental engagement in nutrition education programs often focuses on direct communication with parents. While this is an important component for the success of nutrition education, the role that students can play in connecting the program to their home is often overlooked. Methods: Feedback from students participating in a nutrition…

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 sets new nutrition standards for schools, requiring them to serve a greater variety and quantity of fruits and vegetables. Extension educators in New Jersey partnered with school nutrition professionals to implement a school wellness initiative that included taste-testing activities to support…

Objective: To increase nutrition knowledge, fruit and vegetable preference, eating and cooking self-efficacy among 3rd- to 5th-grade students after a 6-week school-based nutrition education intervention. Design: Quasi-experimental pre-post design. Setting: Title I elementary schools, South Plains, West Texas. Method: A nutrition education…

Background: Lack of nutrition knowledge, low preference for fruits and vegetables (F&V), and underdeveloped taste are recognized as modifiable influencers of children's F&V intake. Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of a behavior-and age-specific nutrition education intervention to improve nutrition knowledge and preference for F&V…

Background: Children in the USA face increasing nutrition-related health risks, including obesity rates of 16.9% -- a figure that has more than tripled over the past four decades. Nutrition education is beneficial to improve children's health through obesity prevention and the promotion of healthy habits, and the elementary school years are a key…

Purpose/Objectives: A national trend to improve school breakfast participation is the integration of breakfast within the school day. Breakfast in the classroom programs increase student access to school breakfast. Service models include "grab and go," distribution of breakfasts to each classroom, and mobile breakfast carts in hallways.…

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between classroom psychological climate and the physical and sedentary behaviour of primary school students after the implementation of an innovative education programme regarding nutrition and physical activity. Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: Study…

Use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in school classrooms and conference rooms is increasing. To evaluate the effectiveness of IWBs as a tool for Extension education, two groups of 3rd and 4th grade Minnesota students (n=325) were taught nutrition using traditional methods or IWBs. Significant increases in knowledge and behavior were observed in…

This study examined the fruit and vegetable intake of a large sample of Alabama school children in elementary schools receiving fifty percent or more free or reduced priced lunch who qualify for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The results of this study provide insight as to whether access to a variety of fresh produce, in additional to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the Cancer Society of Lower Saxony's school-based nutrition education programme "5-a-day for kids", designed to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption. Intervention: the programme included three parts (each 45 minutes): education-based classroom session;…

Purpose/Objectives: This study investigates the effect of meal component changes by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) on school lunch quality and consumption in elementary school students, grade 2-5 before and after the HHFKA guidelines were implemented in July 2012 using the Healthy Eating Index. Methods: In Spring 2012, before…

Purpose/Objectives: Increasing children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is an important goal for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). In 2012 the NSLP began requiring students to select a FV. The objective of this study was to compare children's FV choices in two school cafeteria environments a year before these new USDA regulations…

This qualitative case study explored the influence that service-learning involvement has on undergraduate college students' cognitive, environmental, and behavioral factors related to nutrition. Utilizing the major constructs of the social cognitive theory, the research questions guided the investigation of how participants in a previously…

Background: The rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled during the past 30?years. Research shows that prevention at an early age is more effective than treatment later in life. Energize is a multicomponent intervention incorporated into the school day that combines nutrition education and physical activity aimed at maintaining healthy…