Journal Club 10: Body Quest Parent: A Text Message Parent Education Intervention to Supplement a School-Based Obesity Prevention Initiative for Third-Graders

Text messaging can be an effective tool for educating and engaging parents in school-based interventions. In this webinar, we will describe a text-based intervention encouraging parents to improve the home food environment for third graders participating in Body Quest, a school-based obesity prevention initiative. Lessons learned from the past 5 years of utilizing texting messaging with a limited-resource audience will be highlighted.

Katie Funderburk, MS, RD, Auburn University, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Katie Funderburk is a Registered Dietitian and the Nutrition and Evaluation Coordinator for Alabama SNAP-Ed at Auburn University. She coordinates statewide social marketing efforts and provides leadership and support to various nutrition education interventions and community health initiatives.

Sondra Parmer, PhD, Auburn University, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Sondra Parmer is the Program Coordinator for SNAP-Ed at Auburn University in Alabama, a role she has been in for 24 years. During her tenure with SNAP-Ed, her work has focused on creative methods for evaluating hard-to-reach audiences, developing teaching tools that continue to provide education over time and integrating technology into nutrition education. Her work has been recognized nationally through publications, invited presentations and numerous national awards.

Barb Struempler, PhD, Auburn University, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Barb Streumpler is the Program Lead for Nutrition Education at Auburn University in Alabama where her program areas include ALProHealth, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education and SNAP-Ed. Her specialty areas include obesity prevention in adults and youth, especially limited resource populations, with a focus on evidence-based nutrition strategies and interventions, as well as Policy, Systems and Environment changes to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity. 

Journal Club 9: Evaluation and Lessons Learned From the Development and Implementation of an Online Prenatal Nutrition Training for EFNEP Paraprofessionals

The webinar presentation will include a description of the design, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of a video-based online training for EFNEP peer educators addressing the implementation of a prenatal nutrition education lesson from the Eating Smart • Being Active curriculum. The methods, results, conclusions and implications for research and practice of the quasi-experimental pre-posttest study will be shared. Emphasis will be placed on lessons learned related to the development and delivery of online training programs for peer educators.

Susan S. Baker, EdD, Colorado State University
Susan Baker is a Professor and Extension Specialist at Colorado State University. She also serves as the Coordinator of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program or EFNEP as it's known for Colorado. Dr. Baker has worked as a nutrition educator serving limited-resource families for more than 30 years. She led the development of the widely-used evidenced-based curriculum Eating Smart * Being Active. Today's webinar focuses on the evaluation of an online training for paraprofessional educators focusing on one of the lessons from Eating Smart • Being Active.

Micheline Chlipalski, PhD
Micheline Chlipalski, PhD is a recent PhD graduate from Colorado State University. During her graduate studies she worked with peer educators, helping them develop the competencies they need to deliver nutrition education and aid in data collection for research projects implemented within nutrition programs, such as the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.

Beth Olson, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Beth Olson is an Associate Professor and an Extension Specialist in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the development and improvement of education and programs to support families in healthy infant feeding practices. She is the lead author of the Eating Smart • Being Active curriculum’s supplemental lessons on nutrition during pregnancy and for the first 12 months of life.

Journal Club 8: Validity and Reliability of Behavior and Theory-Based Psychosocial Determinants Measures, Using Audience Response System Technology in Urban Upper-Elementary Schoolchildren

(Recorded 10/28/2019)

About the Webinar

The study examined the validity and reliability of a questionnaire assessing energy balance-related behaviors and theory-based psychosocial factors. We will present how we used audience response system (ARS) to collect behavioral and psychosocial outcomes from fourth- and fifth-grade elementary school children in a classroom setting. We will also briefly describe how this technology was used to evaluate a nutrition education intervention.

Related JNEB article. 

About the Presenters

Heewon Gray, PhD, RD, University of South Florida
Dr. Gray is an assistant professor in nutrition & dietetics at University of South Florida College of Public Health. She has been involved in a number of nutrition education programs and intervention evaluations. A major focus of her research is on health promotion and obesity prevention among children and adolescents. Currently, she is working on a nutrition education intervention for parents and caregivers of children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Isobel Contento, PhD, Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Contento is the Mary Swartz Rose Professor of Nutrition and Education, and Coordinator of the Nutrition Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has spoken on nutrition education at many national and international conferences and has been involved in numerous nutrition education development and evaluation projects and intervention research in this country and abroad, including Mexico, El Salvador, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Portugal. She has been a member of several national advisory committees including the American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control, and the Institute of Medicine committee that produced Nutritional Standards for Food in Schools that was used to inform legislation, and the Nutrition Education Technical Expert Collaborative of the Nutrition Evidence Library, USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. She has also been active in the Society for Nutrition Education for many years, serving on various committees including the Journal Committee, Board of Directors, and Board of Trustees.

Pam Koch, EdD, RD, Teachers College, Columbia University
Pamela A. Koch, Ed.D., R.D. is a Research Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy in the Program in Nutrition at Teachers College Columbia University, New York City. She was the Co-principal investigator, with Dr. Isobel Contento as the Principal Investigator, for the USDA grant that funded the development and evaluation of the Food, Health & Choices Curriculum and Wellness Policy intervention. She is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. She is currently serving her second term on the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Board of Directors and will be president in 2020–21. 

Journal Club 7: Tele-Motivational Interviewing for Cancer Survivors: Feasibility, Preliminary Efficacy, and Lessons Learned

Motivational interviewing targets individual ambivalence surrounding behavior change. It has demonstrated efficacy for changing multiple challenging behaviors, including those related to dietary and physical activity patterns. It also has utility in remote platforms to allow autonomy in selection of methods of communication. This includes cancer survivors, as well as other high risk populations, in encouraging adherence to evidence-based recommendations.

Colleen Spees, PhD, MEd, RDN, LD, FAND, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Dr. Spees is an Associate Professor at Ohio State, and her lab, Hope Lab, focuses on evaluating biomarkers of biobehavorial interventions in vulnerable populations. Her currently funded projects include assessing modifiable lifestyle behaviors associated with low-resource families and cancer survivors. Dr. Spees is a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, executive member the Academy’s Nutrition Access and Cancer Health Outcomes Committee, recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Practice Award, and 3-time winner of the Award for Excellence in Oncology Nutrition Research.

Ashlea Braun, MS, RDN, LD, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Ashlea Braun is a doctoral candidate and Clinical Research Dietitian in the Hope Lab at Ohio State. Her work focuses on the use of motivational interviewing to facilitate sustainable behavior change in high-risk populations. She has been recognized at the local, state, and national level for her contributions to the study of nutrition and behavior change, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation Anita Owen Award of Recognition for Innovative Nutrition Education, and being named a Young Dietitian of the Year in 2017.

Journal Club 6: Changing Diet and Physical Activity in Nurses: A Pilot Study and Process Evaluation Highlighting Challenges in Workplace Health Promotion

About the Webinar

Diet and physical activity are crucial and modifiable factors of health and disease status. Knowing this, however, does not automatically make someone eat healthier and become active. Work environment and job demands are often oversee as upstream determinants of diet and physical activity behaviors. In this presentation we will see how this is the case for nurse. Nurses job is characterized by shift-work and a demanding environment, which has been linked to the high rates of poor eating habits, low physical activity, and excess weight. We will explore how these factors limit the success of workplace programs aimed at help nurses achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle. We will then evaluate and understand key factors to overcome barriers to creating programs to help nurses change unhealthy behaviors and how these overlap with other professions with similar characteristics (i.e. shift-work).

Related JNEB article. 

About the Presenter

Luciana Torquati, PhD, RDN
Luciana is a registered nutritionist (UK), with a PhD in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Queensland (Australia). She recently joined the University of Exeter (UK), as a Lecturer in Nutrition and responsible for developing a new BSc Nutrition program. Her overarching research focus is on how modifying diet and physical activity behaviors can promote health and prevent chronic disease; either by direct changes in diet (sugar, fiber) and physical activity level/fitness, or indirectly via environmental factors (social factors, workplace, policy).

Using Skin Carotenoid Status Technology to Evaluate Community Nutrition Interventions

About the Webinar

First, we will give an overview of reflectance spectroscopy technology. Then we will provide evidence of its validity as a proxy for fruit and vegetable consumption in diverse populations. Finally, we will provide several examples of the use of skin carotenoid status as measured by reflection spectroscopy to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in corner stores, supermarkets, and schools/afterschool and childcare programs. This will include both logistical and practical issues related to use of the reflection spectroscopy to assess skin carotenoid status as a measure of change in vegetable and fruit intake in the field. 

About the Presenters

Lisa Jahns, PhD, RD, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
Dr. Jahns is a Research Nutritionist for the USDA-ARS in the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center. Her research interests include use of technology and biomarkers in dietary assessment, the effects of increased fruit and vegetable consumption on psychological and physical health parameters and body weight, as well as behavioral economic constructs to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, including the reward value of food and executive function assessment.

Jared McGuirt, PhD, MPH, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Dr. McGuirt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. His research interests include health behavior theory, health disparities, behavioral economics, digital technology and community based participatory research. 

Rachel Scherr, PhD, University of California, Davis
Dr. Scherr serves as Director of the Center for Nutrition in Schools' Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis. Her research interest lies in Nutritional Biology.

Virginia C. Stage, PhD, East Carolina University
Dr. Stage is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition Science in the College of Allied Health Sciences at East Carolina University. Her research is housed under the Food-based Early Education (FEEd) Lab's. The FEEd Lab's research focuses on childhood overweight prevention by improving early childhood teachers' food and nutrition education strategies when working with children (birth-5 years) and their families. Dr. Stage's research is guided by the CDC's Social Ecological Model for Food and Physical Activity Decisions and uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine these areas of research.
 
Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, PhD, East Carolina University
Dr. Pitts is a Professor in the Department of Public Health at East Carolina University. Her research interests focus on obesity prevention policy change in rural areas.

Journal Club 5: Potential Use of Classroom Response Systems (CRS, Clickers) in Foods, Nutrition, and Dietetics Higher Education

About the Webinar

Classroom response systems (CRSs, clickers) support pedagogy moving from traditional, lecture-based classes to interactive, engaged classes in which instructors can monitor learning, measure comprehension, provide additional context, address misconceptions, and stimulate discussions, especially about challenging nutrition topics. This webinar presents the viability and potential benefits, examples from the author’s experiences, and guidance to implement this technology. Participants are invited to share their experiences.

Related JNEB article. 

About the Presenter

Dr. Susan Martin Gould, PhD, RDN, University of Northern Colorado
Sue worked 13 years with SNAP-Ed designing, implementing, and evaluating bilingual, computer-based, nutrition education methods after completing community nutrition-based research projects for Masters and Doctoral degrees. She taught nutrition education and counseling courses at Colorado State University and University of Northern Colorado (UNC). At UNC, she was a faculty-in-residence, which provided brief nutrition education opportunities for college-aged students using technology-based methods, including classroom response systems (CRS). She serves on the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Board of Editors.

Journal Club 4: mHealth Improved Fruit and Vegetable Accessibility and Intake in Young Children

About the Webinar

This presentation will describe the methods and results from the Jump2Health Study, that included a mobile website, Facebook posts, and text messages related to information to help parents increase the accessibility of fruits and vegetables by offering them more to their children. The dietary, outcome, and process measures included electronic food photos of children’s meals and snacks, 10-question pictorial behavioral survey related to vegetable consumption (Focus on Veggies), reflectance spectroscopy via Veggie Meter to measure skin carotenoid levels, body mass index percentiles, and a Mobile Learning Survey.

About the Presenter

Dr. Ashlee Bakırcı-Taylor is the Director of Science Outreach at the Tree of Evolution. She obtained her doctoral degree from Texas Tech University in Nutritional Sciences.

Journal Club 3: Increasing Sense of Community in Higher Education Nutrition Courses Using Technology

Sense of community is integral in education and can affect achievement, interactivity and retention. This session will explore factors that across face-to-face, blended and online formats. Technology is one factor that can have significant impact and video conferencing, polling software, video/audio enabled discussion platform and screen capture software will be discussed. Application to nutrition practice and future research will be noted.

Mindy Haar, PhD, RDN, CDN, FAND, earned her M.S. in Nutrition Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a PhD in health sciences from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Her clinical career has focused on outpatient nutrition counseling in hospitals, doctors’ offices and her own private.practice. Since 1996, Dr. Haar has been involved in higher education and presently at New York Institute of Technology she serves as Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Affairs, School of Health Professions, and as director of the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences which includes an all online MS in Clinical Nutrition. Her research has focused on factors including technology that affect perception of community and interactivity in health science coursework and she has written and presented as well on health and nutrition issues across the life cycle.

Journal Club 2: Beyond Nutrient Intake: Use of Digital Food Photography Methodology to Examine Family Dinnertime

About the Webinar

This study explores the feasibility of using an image-based food photography methodology in a rural, low-resource audience. Photos were examined to understand the context of family dinners with young children. They yielded a holistic picture of family dinnertime, including meal timing, location, concordance in parent-child meals, level of preparation, and meal quality.

About the Presenters

Laura Bellows, PhD, MPH, RDN, Colorado State University

Laura Bellows is an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University. As a public health nutritionist, her research focuses on the development of eating behaviors and physical activity patterns in early childhood. To date, Dr. Bellows' work has utilized innovative approaches in the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in preschool settings.

Morgan McCloskey, MSPH, Colorado State University

Morgan McCloskey is a Research Associate in the Department of Food Science and Human Development at Colorado State University. For this project she was instrumental in developing and implementing the study protocol, training materials and data collection. She led data analysis efforts and the presentation of findings.