[PA-25] Nutrition Education Training Academy
Lucrecia Farfan-Ramirez, MPH, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alameda , CA
Lucrecia Farfan-Ramirez , MPH, JoAnn Jonhson, Setal Desai, MS, RD
Problem: By the year 2005, children and adolescents of color will represent 40% of all U.S. school children. National surveys indicate that 84% of children and adolescents cat too much total fat. In California, more than 30 percent of youth are overweight. Children who are inactive and have poor eating habits are at-risk for long-term care problems such as cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, asthma, and certain cancers. Educating children about nutrition early in their lives is critical for dietary behavior patterns to improve. Thus, early childhood teachers must be prepared to serve and value a far more diverse group of young children families, than any time in the past.
Methods: The NETA project is the result of 3 years of applied research. This study investigated Early Childhood Providers' perceptions of the children nutrition problems, and barriers they faced in delivering nutrition education as part of their daily activities. A needs assessment, focus groups and observations of more than 200 teachers were conducted. This survey was administered in 3 Unified School Districts with high concentration on African-Americans, Latinos, and Southeast Asians. The evaluation measurements helped identified teachers' knowledge and skills in nutrition, their values and beliefs, perceive children's problems, and environmental school barriers to improve nutrition in the schools.
Results: Findings indicated that age-appropriate, cultural relevant nutrition education, with funding for hands-on learning experiences was needed. Early childhood pedagogy and content to support, cognitive, health, language and social emotional development must be integrated into the intervention program.
Conclusion: A need for an appropriate cultural-relevant and age-appropriate materials, training, and school support for teachers to implement nutrition-based classroom curriculum which is interactive with hands-on activities.
