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Physically active adolescent girls and young women may eliminate meat from their diets to achieve or maintain low body weight. By doing so, they risk developing protein, iron, and zinc deficiencies. Further, meatless diets in this population may signal the possibility of amenorrhea and/or disordered eating, with the attendant risk of osteoporosis. Educating young women and their parents and coaches regarding the risks of a meatless diet and using the preparticipation exam to screen for these problems can promote preventive measures.

Good nutrition is important at every stage of training and competition. Both the serious competitive cyclist as well as the recreational cyclist should eat a balanced diet that provides calories adequate to meet energy demands. Athletes consuming less than 2000 calories a day may have difficulty meeting nutrient needs, particularly for iron and calcium. Weight loss, glycogen depletion, and dehydration also are possible results of an inadequate diet. Dietary strategies to enhance or maintain the body's carbohydrate stores are necessary for performance, especially for cyclists with high training miles or participating in road racing and other endurance events. Additionally, cyclists should be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids, especially when in a hot environment. It appears that protein requirements of endurance athletes increase as the duration and intensity of exercise increases. However, factors such as total calorie intake and protein quality should be considered when determining protein needs. Many athletes are concerned about vitamin and mineral intake and often use nutritional supplements both for "insurance" as well as performance reasons. The supplements taken most often include vitamin C, the B-complex, and iron. Vitamins and minerals in excess of the RDA do not improve performance and can be toxic when consumed in large amounts. On the other hand, vegetarians and cyclists with low-calorie intakes may benefit from a multivitamin or mineral supplement.

One problem encountered by many who work with nutrition and health education programs is the lack of curricular and instructional materials appropriate for adults with low literacy skills. In their seminal work, Doak et al. (1) clearly demonstrated the breadth and depth of this problem in patient education. Systematic methods for determining appropriate written materials for adults with low literacy skills are badly needed. A method that holds promise for identifYing and developing instructional materials for adults with low literacy skills is the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). Studies have shown the CIT to be a powerful approach to identifYing specific behaviors associated with effective and ineffective performance (2). This technique has been adopted by various professions as a strategy for developing educational and training programs. Few studies, however, have used the cq for groups with low levels of literacy. In addition, its application to the development of instructional materials remains unexplored. The purposes of this paper are to provide an overview of the CIT and to report on the use of the CIT in the development of nutrition information materials for adults with low literacy skills.

The purpose of this project was to develop nutrition materials based on bulletins HG 232(1–11), “The Dietary Guidelines and Your Diet”, for use by adults with low literacy skills. A booklet testing at the fifth grade level was designed and tested using qualitative research methods. Participants included 131 women and 21 men, 16 to 60 years of age (mean age 30 years). Sixteen percent were African American, 3% were Native American, 1% were Hispanic, and the remaining 80% were Caucasians. All possessed reading skills from the third to eighth grade levels, and years of education completed ranged from sixth grade to high school graduate (mean of tenth grade). Two sets of interviews were conducted. The booklet was revised based upon results from the first set of interviews. Participants were especially interested in “how to” and “did you know” information, and calorie and nutrient contents of food. Topics of interest included, “Tips on Feeding Young Children”, “Eat Less Fat”, and “Watch Your Weight”. Findings from the interviews provide evidence of the need for nutrition information among these low Uterate adults. Further research with low literate adults is needed to define typical dietary practices, beliefs and perceptions, and barriers to change.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of stage-tailored newsletters as a communication means for promoting fruit and vegetable intake by young adults. Qualitative interviews were conducted to gather young adults' likes and dislikes about stage-tailored newsletters on fruits and vegetables. A total of 246 interviews were completed by young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 years for focus group and/or in-depth interviews. Prototype newsletters containing stage-matched messages were designed to increase motivational readiness to increase fruit and vegetable intake based on the Transtheoretical Model. Transcripts were grouped by stage of change and examined to identify major themes or topics. Results showed that young adults in each of the three stages responded positively to the tailored newsletters. Subjects provided feedback on newsletter likes/dislikes, benefits/barriers to eating fruits and vegetables, and strategies for promoting change. This study provides an example of the incorporation of key concepts from the Transtheoretical Model in development of stage-tailored newsletters for young adults.