Updating Your Nutrition Education Toolbox
Search for a recipe online? Receive a text message reminding you to choose low-fat milk for your beverage? Read a blog written by a mom struggling to get her kids to eat green vegetables? Snap a picture of your meal with the camera on your cell phone?
Technology has hugely impacted how consumers access health information, and the nutrition field is no exception. Educators can now use computers, cell phones, iPods, and even digital photo frames to convey a nutrition-related message. Because these technologies are so widespread, such formats may be useful in working with low-income audiences. Here is a brief look at some of the innovative technologies that are in use.

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Nutrition Support in the Supermarket
How do you determine if a food that you want to purchase is healthy? Do you flip over the package to look at the nutrition facts label? Or read the ingredient list? Or simply glance at the claim on the front of the package before making your decision?
A recent article in ADA Times reviewed the current dilemma regarding the use of nutrition symbols on food package labels. The nutrition facts panel was created in 1993 to help consumers understand the nutritional components of the foods they purchase. Research indicates that most consumers at least occasionally use this panel, but are still confused by what the facts really mean (1). In response to this confusion coupled with the growing consumer interest in health, many food manufacturers have begun to place nutrition information on the front of their products to simplify their potential customer’s decision. These front-of-the-package labels use either a “fact-based” system or a “better-for-you” system.

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Farm Bill Update
Much time has been spent over the past ten months working on the passage of a new Farm Bill. Last authorized in 2002, the Farm Bill represents a major funding and policy vehicle for several food and nutrition programs. Among these are the Food Stamp Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. The bill has been mired for several months in negotiations to hammer out a bipartisan agreement on the spending level (anywhere from $6 billion to $12 billion over baseline levels contained in the 2002 bill) and the term of the reauthorization (either five or ten years), both of which must pass muster with the Administration to garner the President’s signature. An agreement has been hinted at several times in the past three months; unfortunately, the March 15 deadline for an agreement has come and gone. The current 2002 bill has been extended (again) to April 15, allowing another month for negotiations and final passage.  Stay tuned...         

ASNNA - Working Together to Improve Nutrition Education
On February 19-21, the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network was honored to host the annual meeting of the Association of Nutrition Network Administrators (ASNNA). The meeting was held in Philadelphia and was a great success. So what exactly is ASNNA? The Association is a group of FSNE coordinators and administrators who work together to improve communication between federal and state agencies and serve as a nation-wide resource for education, information, networking, social marketing, and partnerships within FSNE. Two of their primary goals are to share information within the FSNE community and to help states implement and evaluate their initiatives. Following along with these goals, the West Virginia and Iowa Networks have kindly submitted articles on their shared social marketing campaign (see below). Let's continue to work together and learn from each other in an effort to better serve the food-stamp population of this country.

Iowa Nutrition Education Network's Social Marketing Campaign
The Iowa Nutrition Education Network's social marketing campaign Pick a better snack™ encourages fruit and vegetable choices for snacks. Iowa Nutrition Network partners worked together to develop Pick a better snack™ so that multiple programs could use it. Key partners include the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Iowa Department of Education-Team Nutrition, Iowa State University Extension, the 5 A Day Coalition of Iowa, Inc., the Iowa Dietetic Association, and Iowa Public Television.
Its goals include supporting at least one of the USDA’s Team Nutrition messages, providing consistent nutrition messages that can be used by multiple programs and that are appropriate for low-income audiences, and training nutrition coalitions, schools, and partners of the Iowa Nutrition Education Network in social marketing, campaign development, and implementation strategies.

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Iowa's Pick a better snack™ Retail Campaign
This year, the Iowa Nutrition Network embarked on the Pick a better snack™ retail campaign in sixteen grocery stores throughout the capital city of Des Moines. Retail stores include Hy-Vee, Dahls, Fareway, Aldi, and Super Wal-Mart. Des Moines is the ideal location for this pilot project as most elementary schools in Des Moines receive Pick a better snack™ nutrition education in the classroom. Numerous children at the grocery stores recognize Pick a better snack™ and connect the campaign with the school-based nutrition education. The consistent Pick a better snack™ message and brand are reinforced.
Retail partnerships are win-win situations for the Nutrition Network and the grocery stores. The goal is to increase consumption, and thus sales, of fruits and vegetables. Produce has a high mark-up and spoils quickly. Teaming up with the Pick a better snack™ retail campaign enables the store to increase its produce sales.

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West Virginia Nutrition Education Network
A unique statewide partnership called the West Virginia Nutrition Network has been established with the collaborative efforts of local and statewide agencies. The formation of this partnership has provided the opportunity to adopt a community-based nutrition social marketing campaign called Pick a better snack™ (PABS). The primary goal of the campaign is to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables among low-income West Virginians. PABS messages are being delivered through community outlets such as the WVU Extension Service’s Family Nutrition Program, WV WIC, Food Banks, WV Retailer’s Association, Office of Child Nutrition, WV Bureau for Senior Services and other local county programs in order to maximize project impact.

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Incorporating Fun into the Nutrition Education Curriculum: Eat.Right.Now.
Eat.Right.Now. is the official nutrition education program of the School District of Philadelphia. Entering its eighth year, this unique program is funded by Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Tracks as part of the USDA Food Stamp Program and provides nutrition education programs and services to food-stamp-eligible adults and children in the Philadelphia community. Drexel University is one of the community partners of the School District of Philadelphia. Drexel’s Nutrition Center employs fourteen nutrition educators, who together with teachers, nurses and counselors in sixty-eight schools, work to assist all students in eating healthy through both direct and indirect outreach programs and services which include, but are not limited to, in-class lessons, health fairs, assembly programs, newsletters, bulletin board displays, food tastings and demonstrations.

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Statewide Event Encourages Youth to Turn Off the TV and Move It Outside!
It’s that time of year. The days are longer, the weather is getting warmer and the sounds of laughter are beginning to waft through open windows as children are heading outdoors to play. While these images of springtime are not uncommon, surprisingly fewer and fewer children are taking advantage of the fun, learning and physical activity offered through outdoor play. With the decline in school recess and an increase in “on screen” entertainment, children need motivation to turn off the TV – and video games – and play outside.
To help reverse this trend in sedentary lifestyles, the Penn State Hershey Center for Nutrition & Activity Promotion is encouraging youth to Move It Outside on Wednesday, April 23. Celebrated during National Turn Off the TV Week, Move It Outside encourages youth and families to head outside with a Frisbee ® and enjoy the outdoors.

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