Documenting the impact of a salad bar
and nutrition education program on children’s eating patterns
and attitudes: A Cool Foods pilot study in a Chicago Charter School
Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, PhD, University of Illinois at
Chicago, Joanne Kouba, MS, RD, LDN, Loyola University
Chicago, LaDonna Redmond, Institute for Community Resource Development,
Maureen Hellwig, PhD, Policy
Research Action Group, Loyola University Chicago, Louise Martinez,
MPH, University of Illinois at Chicago,
Camille Reid, Healthy Schools Campaign
Background
With the emergence
of obesity as a common intermediary for adult health
problems and the increased prevalence of overweight youth, the quality
of children’s eating
patterns should be addressed in relation to obesity prevention (CDC,
1997). The Chicago Food
Systems Collaborative (CFSC) is an interdisciplinary community-university
partnership that has
been working to improve the dietary quality and food access of residents
in the Austin area of
Chicago. The CFSC has identified the lack of access/offerings of F/V
in schools as a concern.
This study is funded by W. K. Kellogg Foundation and CLOCC.
Purpose
The main goal of the Cool Foods project is to evaluate the
impact of the SB option
with a nutrition education component on knowledge, attitudes and consumption
of foods among
children in kindergarten and first grade compared to a school with
SB only. The Cool Foods
project will increase the offerings of fresh fruits and vegetables
(F/V) to Chicago Public Schools
(CPS) using salad bars (SB).
Project Design and Subject Selection
This study will use a time series
design with an
intervention school and a comparison school. Repeated measures will
be taken on availability of
F/V, children’s intake of F/V, food preferences, knowledge and
attitudes toward eating healthy
produce. Both schools, the one targeted for the intervention, Namaste,
and the comparison
school, Oscar DePriest, are predominantly multicultural. All students
in Kindergarten and First
Grade in the intervention school will participate in the nutrition
education sessions which are
incorporated as part of the curriculum. Systematic observations of
what the children eat in the
cafeteria will be conducted randomly of Kindergarteners and First Graders.
All 90
Kindergarteners and first graders will be the focus of the pilot.
Methods
of Data Collection and Analysis
Researchers will come into each
school one week a
month, five days in a row, for six months. This strategy will yield
30 days of data collection at
each school. Specifically, the methods of data collection will include:
a) an inventory of the types
and quantifies of foods that are planned, offered and served during
the lunch periods, b)
Researchers will observe in a non-intrusive manner a random sample
of children in the lunch
line and record what he/she selects from the salad bar compared to
what he/she eats using visual
approximation by trained observers. A maximum of 10 children per
day will be observed. This
strategy will yield 300 records of observed food intake during the
lunch meal at each school, C)
Twice a month for six months the team will come into the Kindergarten
and 1st grade classroom
to have an education session related to agriculture and nutrition.
Children will be asked to
complete a fruit and vegetable short survey to measure knowledge,
and preferences toward F/V.
Anticipated Results
It is expected that
this pilot study will yield data regarding the impact that
a salad bar and a nutrition education curriculum has on the eating
patterns and knowledge of young children. Data on the percent of
children eating from the salad bar and percent of food
eaten will be gathered over a period of six months. Researchers will
examine the differences
between the target school and the comparison school in knowledge
and attitudes toward F/V.
The preliminary results will be available in September of 2005. In
this study, we hypothesize that
nutrition education is necessary to increase the likelihood of children
selecting foods from the
salad bar. Therefore, a salad bar option alone is not significantly
sufficient to increase the
consumption of fruits and vegetables. This study will make contributions
to the existing body of
literature regarding the importance of nutrition education in the
schools. This study will also
make methodological contributions in terms of direct observation
strategies to quantify the
amount of F/V that children eat.
Acknowledgements
Researchers will
like to acknowledge the support of the school's principals
including Ms. Allison Slade from Namaste and Ms. Dorothy N. Jenkins
from Oscar DePriest, for
their support of this study. We also extend our appreciation to the
many teachers, at both schools,
supporting the project.
For further information about this study please
contact either Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar at (312)
413-0117 or ysuarez@uic.edu or Joanne Kouba at (773)508-8298 or jkouba@luc.edu.
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