| Nutrition Education |
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Nutrition Education Isn’t Working?!?
This summer, the Associated Press released an article, “Review Finds Nutrition Education Failing,” in which the author reviewed federally–funded, school-based nutrition education programs. According to the author, only four of the fifty-seven studies reviewed succeeded in changing eating behavior or preventing childhood obesity, and the remaining were “mostly failure[s].”
One example of the research that was reviewed (and assumed to be a failure) was a study on the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program in Mississippi. According to the author of the AP article, the fifth graders involved in the program became less likely to eat fruits and vegetables than they were before the start of the program.
Read more...
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Obesity among Friends
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that one’s likelihood of becoming obese is tied to the prevalence of obesity in his or her friends. The study took place from 1971 to 2003, following over 12,000 people from Framingham, Massachusetts. The investigators knew which individuals were friends, as well as who was a spouse or sibling or neighbor, and they knew how much each person weighed at various times over three decades.
As it turns out, friends of obese people were 57 to 117 percent more likely to become obese themselves, depending on the strength of the relationships.
Read more...
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General Assembly Says “No” to Breakfast Mandate
A plan to bring 350 schools into the School Lunch Program this school year failed as the General Assembly wrapped up details in July related to the 2007-08 state budget.
The schools in question (250 public, 100 private) have enrollments of which at least 20 percent of students are from low-income families. The legislation in question (House Bill 908) would have required the schools to begin offering breakfast unless they could demonstrate good cause for not doing so. By mid-July, 50 schools had asked the PA Department of Education to waive the anticipated requirement; the others were getting ready to go.
But the effort failed at the very end of the process as a Senate-House Conference Committee ironed out details of the School Code Bill (HB 842), which implements the education portion of the budget.
Read more...
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Schools Challenged to Apply Nutrition Standards to Competitive Foods
Schools that want more state dollars to support their school lunch and breakfast programs must begin regulating the nutritional content of nearly all foods and beverages available on school campuses during the school day. The General Assembly adopted this policy as it enacted House Bill 842 just before it adjourned for the summer. Governor Rendell signed the bill on July 20. The bill directs the PA Department of Education (PDE) to establish a School Nutrition Incentive Program that provides “a supplemental school lunch and breakfast reimbursement to any school that has adopted and implemented the nutrition guidelines for food and beverages available on each school campus.” The supplemental payment will be 1 cent per breakfast, and 1 to 3 cents per lunch depending on how effectively the school is reaching its students with the breakfast program.
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| PA NEN Member Initiatives |
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Ellyn Satter: Supporting Eating Competence during Pregnancy
At this year’s “Strengthening the Food Resource Safety Net” Conference, Ellyn Satter discussed eating competence and its applications. According to Satter, there is a satisfying way for both adults and children to eat without going out of control. The key word is trust. Acknowledging, trusting and acting on what lies inside is basic to mental health and nutritional health. Even the most out-of-control eater can learn to trust their body’s (and their child’s body’s) internal signals of hunger, appetite, and satiety and know how much to eat. Such trust depends on the ability to reliably provide satisfying food in order for one’s own body to be the size and shape it needs to be.
To continue this discussion, Ellyn has provided the PA NEN with a perspective on eating competence as it relates to pregnant women.
Click here for Ellyn's article "Supporting Eating Competence During Pregnancy: Helping without Harming"
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Wise Markets Healthy Bites
Also at this year's Strengthening the Food Resource Safety Net Conference, Paula Shipman, R.D., L.D.N., and Cheryl Gamber, R.D., L.D.N., Weis nutritionists, led a workshop entitled "Eating Smart Starts in Your Cart: Using Grocery Store Tours as a Nutrition Education Tool." To continue this discussion, they have provided information on what they, as nutritionists, are doing at in grocery stores to educate consumers on nutrition.
Weis Markets HealthyBites ® Consumer Nutrition and Wellness Program educates consumers of all ages on how to make sensible food choices. Launched in 2003 and staffed by a team of three registered dietitians, the program operates in 155 stores in a five-state region. Consumers look to HealthyBites ® for accurate nutrition information, practical shopping tips and easy, healthful recipes through a variety of services.
Read more...
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Grocery Stores as Venues for FSNE?
Many nutrition educators within our Network have been discussing the recent announcement that grocery stores are now a possible location for the delivery of Food Stamp Nutrition Education (FSNE). For those of you that may have missed it, the Fiscal Year 2008 FSNE Plan Guidance, a document which provides policy guidance for states regarding the operation of Food Stamp Nutrition Education, states that “High volume FSP authorized retailers with average monthly redemptions of $50,000 or more over a 12-month period are now eligible venues for FSNE.” Please refer to the Guidance for more information:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/foodstamp/guidance08/Final_2008_Guidance.pdf.
Stay tuned for more developments...
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PANA
nrg Summit - Powered by Choice
Join PANA at the nrg Summit on September 25 for the Latest in Engaging Teens in Creating Healthy Eating and Active Living Environments.
For teens and adults who want to take the lead in creating local changes that make healthy eating and physical activity fun and easy, this nrg Summit is for you.
Taking place at the Willow Valley Resort in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on September 25, this dynamic conference will put PANA partners face-to-face with companies and experts that offer the technologies and insights they need to promote and implement healthy changes through nrg - Powered by Choice™ or any PANA campaign.
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| PA NEN Updates |
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Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association Project Update
Insights about Nutrition Information and Education from Low-Income Youth
In December 2006, the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network (PA NEN) received seed grant money from the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association to conduct a series of focus groups to better understand nutrition issues as they pertain to low-income teenage students. The Food Trust was contracted to conduct and design the research components of the project. The PA NEN, coordinated by the PA NEN Steering Committee and other PA NEN volunteers, collaborated on the desired scope and objectives of the focus groups.
The core objectives included (1) to understand the types of nutrition issues of relevance to low-income teenage students and (2) to decipher in what form these students are interested in learning about these issues. In addition, a secondary objective was to understand students’ perception of parents’ roles in the eating behaviors of teenagers.
Read more about the final report...
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Looking to the Future for PA NEN Social Marketing
Social marketing is an important activity for state nutrition education networks that are involved with Food Stamp Nutrition Education. Some state networks, such as Arizona and Rhode Island, have well-established social marketing programs. Along with individual and group learning activities, social marketing campaigns are designed to increase the likelihood that people eligible for food stamps will make healthy food choices within their limited budgets as well as choose physically active lifestyles.
To illustrate the importance of social marketing, one of the purposes of the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network (PA NEN) as stated in our By-laws is “To coordinate and facilitate social marketing activities.” Although PA NEN has been involved in some social marketing initiatives in the past, we are preparing to launch a more comprehensive effort in the coming fiscal year.
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Intergenerational Nutrition Education Workshop
On June 18, the PA NEN collaborated with the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Society for Nutrition Education to present a workshop on Intergenerational Nutrition Education. While family members influence which foods are purchased or prepared, nutrition education programs often segregate participants into age-related groups. This workshop highlighted strategies for nutrition educators to work with entire families and facilitate intergenerational communication and cooperation when developing/delivering nutrition education outreach programs.
Click here to read more...
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PA NEN Briefings - Nutrition Education for Seniors
On August 9 and 10, Steven Gauvry, PA NEN promoter, collaborated with Carol Sadowski and Antonia Redigan of Penn State Cooperative Extension in Westmoreland County to bring information on the PA Nutrition Education Tracks to Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in Clearfield and Washington Counties. AAA staff, supervisors, and directors as well as staff from other partnering agencies attended the programs. The group learned about promising practices based upon current Tracks projects, how to become a Tracks project, and what nutrition education resources are available for low-income seniors.
Read more...
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We need your help to update our member list!
You may have noticed some recent changes to the PA NEN website. We have been working all year to build the members-only section which now includes such features as our Nutrition Education Database, a members’ forum, online event registration, and a listserv archive. We have also updated our membership application and added a dynamic membership database. This will be automatically updated when a new member joins and will be available and searchable to members only.
We are asking all current PA NEN members to fill out the new membership application at http://panen.psu.edu/membership/memberapp.cfm. You will be asked to provide a unique username and password of your choice to gain access to the members-only section of the site. This will only take a couple minutes of your time and will help us to keep our databases up-to-date.
Thank you in advance for your help!
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Welcomes and Farewells
We are pleased to announce that Linda Kronheim has joined the PA NEN staff as our community nutritionist! Linda holds a BS and MS degree in Nutritional Sciences from Penn State University. While completing her studies, she participated in the evaluations of several nutrition research projects at Penn State. Prior to joining the PA NEN, she worked as a nutritionist for the WIC program. Previous work experiences also include teaching cooking classes and facilitating programs for teenagers.
You may contact Linda at lkronheim@pahunger.org or 717-233-1791.
Welcome Linda!
Meg Bruening, meanwhile, has left her position as community nutritionist to pursue a Master's Degree in Public Health at the University of Minnesota. She worked for the PA NEN for 2 1/2 years and, as the nutritionist, helped shape the educational message of the Network. Among Meg's many responsibilities and accomplishments were the development of SNAP, the programmatic planning of our professional development workshops and the complete redesign of our Web site.
Goodluck Meg! You will be missed!
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