Search

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify key drivers of students' breakfast habits, including eating breakfast at home or at school, to inform strategies that school nutrition professionals might use to increase participation in School Breakfast Programs (SBPs). Methods: A convenience sample of students in grades 1-12 from two public school districts in Connecticut participated in focus groups. Each of the 13 focus groups included students from two or three grade levels and was facilitated by a lead moderator and note-taker. Recorded discussions were transcribed with students' comments coded to identify common themes. Within each theme, the grade levels of participants were identified to determine whether the theme represented comments by elementary school (grades 1-6), middle school (grades 7-8), and/or high school (grades 9-12) participants. Results: A total of 105 students (57% female, 43% male) participated. Across all grade levels, hunger, or a desire to avoid its adverse effects (e.g., grumpiness, headache), was identified as a consistently mentioned reason for eating breakfast. Other reasons included parental influence (elementary students), desire to improve energy (elementary students), and desire to improve school performance (elementary and middle school students). Breakfast skipping was often reported by middle and high school students, who cited inadequate time and lack of hunger as reasons. Across all grade levels, reasons for not participating in the SBP included distaste for, distrust of, and/or cost of school foods. Inconvenience of eating at school and perception of school foods as unhealthy or "junk" were cited by elementary and middle school students. Suggestions to improve school breakfast included more choices (all grades), improved freshness or quality of foods (all grades), and healthier options (elementary and middle school students). Application to Child Nutrition Professionals: Emphasizing food quality and increasing convenience of school breakfast may help to increase SBP participation.

Objective: School-based nutrition education can promote the development of skills, such as food label reading, that can contribute to making healthier food choices. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a Russian language version of the previously validated Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge (FLLANK) questionnaire and also to evaluate the impact of school-based nutrition education programmes on nutrition knowledge and food label-reading skills in Russian adolescents and young adults. Methods: Two nutrition education study programmes were administered to two separate groups of students--at a middle school (n?=?23) and a university (n?=?17). The study programmes consisted of a single 2-hour classroom session and emphasised basic nutrition and food components. The FLLANK questionnaire was administered to both groups of students before and after the intervention to assess change in food label-reading skills. Cronbach's a was calculated for the post-test scores to assess the instrument's internal consistency. Results: Middle school students increased their mean FLLANK scores from 54% to 95% (p?<0.01). University students increased their scores from 46% to 91% (p?<0.01). In the school group only, there was an interaction between time and gender, with boys improving significantly more than girls (p?

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to identify key drivers of students' breakfast habits, including eating breakfast at home or at school, to inform strategies that school nutrition professionals might use to increase participation in School Breakfast Programs (SBPs). METHODS A convenience sample of students in grades 1-12 from two public school districts in Connecticut participated in focus groups. Each of the 13 focus groups included students from two or three grade levels and was facilitated by a lead moderator and note-taker. Recorded discussions were transcribed with students' comments coded to identify common themes. Within each theme, the grade levels of participants were identified to determine whether the theme represented comments by elementary school (grades 1-6), middle school (grades 7-8), and/or high school (grades 9-12) participants. RESULTS A total of 105 students (57% female, 43% male) participated. Across all grade levels, hunger, or a desire to avoid its adverse effects (e.g., grumpiness, headache), was identified as a consistently mentioned reason for eating breakfast. Other reasons included parental influence (elementary students), desire to improve energy (elementary students), and desire to improve school performance (elementary and middle school students). Breakfast skipping was often reported by middle and high school students, who cited inadequate time and lack of hunger as reasons. Across all grade levels, reasons for not participating in the SBP included distaste for, distrust of, and/or cost of school foods. Inconvenience of eating at school and perception of school foods as unhealthy or "junk" were cited by elementary and middle school students. Suggestions to improve school breakfast included more choices (all grades), improved freshness or quality of foods (all grades), and healthier options (elementary and middle school students). APPLICATION TO CHILD NUTRITION PROFESSIONALS Emphasizing food quality and increasing convenience of school breakfast may help to increase SBP participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare two intensity levels (standard vs. enhanced) of a nutrition and physical activity intervention vs. a control (usual programs) on nutrition knowledge, body mass index, fitness, academic performance, behavior, and medication use among elementary school students.Design: Quasi-experimental with three arms.Setting: Elementary schools, students' homes, and a supermarket.Subjects: A total of 1487 third-grade students.Intervention: The standard intervention (SI) provided daily physical activity in classrooms and a program on making healthful foods, using food labels. The enhanced intervention (EI) provided these plus additional components for students and their families.Measures: Body mass index (zBMI), food label literacy, physical fitness, academic performance, behavior, and medication use for asthma or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Analysis: Multivariable generalized linear model and logistic regression to assess change in outcome measures.Results: Both the SI and EI groups gained less weight than the control (p < .001), but zBMI did not differ between groups (p = 1.00). There were no apparent effects on physical fitness or academic performance. Both intervention groups improved significantly but similarly in food label literacy (p = .36). Asthma medication use was reduced significantly in the SI group, and nonsignificantly (p = .10) in the EI group. Use of ADHD medication remained unchanged (p = .34).Conclusion: The standard intervention may improve food label literacy and reduce asthma medication use in elementary school children, but an enhanced version provides no further benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: School-based nutrition education can promote the development of skills, such as food label reading, that can contribute to making healthier food choices. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a Russian language version of the previously validated Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge (FLLANK) questionnaire and also to evaluate the impact of school-based nutrition education programmes on nutrition knowledge and food label–reading skills in Russian adolescents and young adults. Methods: Two nutrition education study programmes were administered to two separate groups of students – at a middle school (n = 23) and a university (n = 17). The study programmes consisted of a single 2-hour classroom session and emphasised basic nutrition and food components. The FLLANK questionnaire was administered to both groups of students before and after the intervention to assess change in food label–reading skills. Cronbach’s α was calculated for the post-test scores to assess the instrument’s internal consistency. Results: Middle school students increased their mean FLLANK scores from 54% to 95% (p < .01). University students increased their scores from 46% to 91% (p < .01). In the school group only, there was an interaction between time and gender, with boys improving significantly more than girls (p < .05). The Cronbach’s α estimates were low for both groups: −.15 and .03 for school and university, respectively. Conclusion: Food label literacy improved among Russian adolescents and young adults after the implementation of nutrition education curricula. The translated version of the FLLANK retained its utility for capturing change in food label literacy, but performed very poorly with regard to internal consistency. Additional research with larger sample size and variance of scores to assess reliability is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the effects of nut-based snack bars (NBSB) vs. prepackaged 200-kcal portions of typical conventional snack foods, when consumed over a 12-week period by a group of overweight adults.Design: Randomized, single-blind parallel design with two treatment groups.Setting: Clinical Trial: Subjects: Thirty-four overweight participants were enrolled.Intervention: Commercially available NBSB or conventional snack foods as part of an ad libitum diet for 12 weeks.Measures: Primary Outcome Measures: body mass index, body weight, body composition, waist circumference.Secondary Outcome Measures: blood pressure, lipid profile, nutrients intake, hunger/satiety, quality of life.Analysis: Generalized linear models with time as repeated measure were used to analyze these data.Results: Daily consumption of NBSB for 12 weeks, as compared to daily consumption of conventional snacks, significantly reduced percentage body fat (-1.7% ± 10.8% vs. 6.2% ± 9.3%; p = .04) and visceral fat (-1.3 ± 5.9 vs. 2.7 ± 4.0; p = .03). There were no between-group differences (p > .05) for blood pressure, lipid panel, satiety, or quality of life measures.Conclusion: Our data suggest that daily consumption of NBSB for 12 weeks reduced body fat and had no adverse effects on weight, blood pressure, lipid profile, satiety, or quality of life in this small sample of overweight adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have lower rates of exclusive breastfeeding compared with women without diabetes. Objectives: To assess associations between GDM and breastfeeding intentions and attitudes, formula supplementation, reasons for formula supplementation, and knowledge of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk reduction associated with breastfeeding among U.S. mothers. Design/Methods: Participants completed an online survey assessing infant feeding knowledge, attitudes, and practices; demographics; and pregnancy-related medical history. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios for formula supplementation in the hospital and at home. Results: Of 871 respondents, a smaller proportion of women with GDM compared with women without diabetes intended to exclusively breastfeed. There were no differences between groups in attitudes toward public breastfeeding, attitudes toward breastfeeding beyond infancy, or actual duration of any breastfeeding. Approximately one in four participants believed that breastfeeding mothers may be less likely to develop T2DM, regardless of GDM status. Among those who intended to exclusively breastfeed, GDM was associated with higher odds of formula supplementation in the hospital (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97-3.18) and at home (adjusted OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.05-3.89). "Medical reasons," which was reported as an important reason for formula supplementation, was reported more frequently by women with GDM. Conclusions: Women with GDM who intended to exclusively breastfeed had higher odds of in-hospital and at-home formula supplementation, cited medical reasons as a main reason for formula supplementation more often, and were largely unaware of T2DM risk reduction associated with breastfeeding.

Objective: Couplet care is an innovative approach to provide postpartum care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with little known about its impact on infant feeding outcomes and maternal stress., Study Design: We compared breastfeeding outcomes and maternal NICU-related stress among mother-infant dyads based on exposure to couplet care in a prospective cohort study., Result: Among 19 couplet-care exposed (CCE) dyads and 19 traditional postpartum care dyads, CCE mothers had lower self-reported stress related to parent-infant relationship as compared to traditional care (P < 0.001). CCE infants received relatively more feeds at the breast (P < 0.001), more breastmilk feeds (P = 0.002), and fewer feeds by staff (P < 0.001). Adjusted for gestational age, marital status, and infant length of stay, couplet care was associated with being in a higher tertile of percent breastmilk feeds (aOR 7.29, 95% CI 1.45-36.65)., Conclusion: NICU couplet care was associated with improved parental stress and breastfeeding outcomes during hospitalization., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)