Testing the effectiveness of an abbreviated version of the Nutrition Detectives program.
BACKGROUND
Obese or overweight children have an increased risk for chronic diseases. Targeting diet and exercise in schools could help prevent childhood obesity. We have previously shown the effectiveness of a 90-minute nutrition program in improving elementary school students' food-label literacy. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 45-minute version of the program.


METHODS
We conducted a pre-post study in a public school district, with no control group. We provided teacher training and program materials. Participants were 5th-grade students in 5 schools who had parental consent and were willing to take part. We condensed the program to a 45-minute lesson with a presentation and hands-on activity. The lesson showed students why and how to make healthful food choices based on Nutrition Facts panels and ingredient lists. The district's physical education teachers taught the lesson. The primary outcome measure was food-label literacy (ie, the ability to distinguish between more and less healthful foods using a validated test instrument with Nutrition Facts panels and ingredient lists).


RESULTS
A total of 212 students completed pre-post measures. Following program delivery, we observed a significant gain of 16.2 percentage points in scores overall, ranging from 4.3 percentage points to 23.6 percentage points among schools. Results were similar to those achieved with the 90-minute program.


CONCLUSIONS
The condensed nutrition program improved students' food-label literacy while requiring a minimal allocation of time. Further studies in other school districts would be useful.
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, 130 Division St, Derby, CT 06418. E-mail: davkatz7@gmail.com with copy to michelle.evans@yalegriffinprc.org.
David L
DL
Katz
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.
Judith A
JA
Treu
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.
Rockiy G
RG
Ayettey
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.
Yasemin
Y
Kavak
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.
Catherine S
CS
Katz
Yale University Prevention Research Center-Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.
Valentine
V
Njike
D002648:Child; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology