The development and qualitative impact assessment of a physical activity and nutrition curriculum for low-income, high school adolescents
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Desai-Shah, Het.
The development and qualitative impact assessment of a physical activity and nutrition curriculum for low-income, high school adolescents. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-rbe6-nf95
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TitleThe development and qualitative impact assessment of a physical activity and nutrition curriculum for low-income, high school adolescents
Date Created2021
Other Date2021-10 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (xii, 154 pages)
DescriptionThe New Jersey Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (NJ EFNEP) is a federally funded program that focuses on serving diverse, low-income families across the state. After the 2015 national EFNEP meeting, where it was emphasized that outreach to older youth, i.e., teenage children ranging from 13 to 18 years old (teens), was inadequate, the NJ EFNEP staff focused on this objective. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that education curricula addressing teens’ nutrition and physical activity issues were scarce. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and evaluate an evidence-based nutrition and physical activity curriculum to use with EFNEP teens.
A comprehensive 5-phase model (Figure 4.1) was created to guide the curriculum’s development, using best practices and lessons learned from previous curricula development experiences. It provides applications of these steps and considerations for effective implementation during each phase, (i.e., activities entailing formative research and process evaluation, and key activities required for summative or outcome assessment), and flexibility in case of conflict with program policies, funding limitations, etc. The curriculum development methods closely followed the steps listed in the model. During the pilot test, qualitative impacts were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with participating teens. Teens (n=24) reported making behavior changes after attending the lessons providing evidence of the curriculum’s effectiveness. Most teens reported making >1 behavior change and changed behaviors in an average of three key topic areas. Moreover, teens reported a number of changes in behavioral antecedents, such as their attitudes, social norms, and perceived barriers to behavior modifications. Researchers also observed increased knowledge regarding the key topics among the teens.
Lastly, the author of this dissertation provided recommendations for curriculum improvements based on the findings from interviews conducted with high school teachers (n=6) and NJ EFNEP educators (n=9) as a part of the curriculum’s process evaluation. Improvements were suggested to: enhance teens’ knowledge retention; improve classroom management and discipline; increase communication with teachers so they may be better informed as to how they may assist the educators, and manage activity timings during class periods. Other suggestions made were to modify specific lessons’ content.
Future research that may follow this dissertation warrants quantitative assessment of the teen curriculum using a suitable questionnaire that inquires on curriculum’s impacts in its entirety. An implication of this research was to provide researchers and professionals with a structured model for the adoption or development of new, evidence-based nutrition education curricula.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.