Nutrition 536 - Class Assignments

Application of Behavior Theories to Nutrition Education Interventions

Chose one of the health behavior or promotion theories and models discussed in class or in the Glanz text. Discuss this selection with the instructor to make sure there are no duplications between students.  Find at least 3 journal articles on nutrition education projects that use one of the theory based approaches. Discuss strengths and weaknesses of this theory as it applies to nutrition education in these settings. The electronic reserve articles will provide a place to start, but please branch out. Prepare a written paper and present your findings in class on May 22.  This paper should include the following:

• A brief description of the theory or model.
• Descriptions of key factors from each of the studies:  intervention population, how the theory was interpreted and applied in this setting, evaluation methods, results, generalizabilty of the results
• Strengths of this theory in terms of nutrition interventions
• Limitations of the theory
• Potential modifications of the theory or application of the theory to make it work for nutrition interventions

Media Project #1:  Critique of Nutrition Education Web Sites

1.   Enable your personal web page following the instructions in the learning modules:

   http://courses.washington.edu/~hs590a/modules/04/module4.html

   http://courses.washington.edu/~hs590a/modules/06/module6.html

   http://courses.washington.edu/~hs590a/modules/06/06-webns.html

2. Prepare a table similar to that at: http://faculty.washington.edu/djohn/asthma.htm
3.   Evaluate at least 5 web sites that provide nutrition education and/or information about nutrition using the criteria presented at: Quality of Information On and Off the web Checklist .  Try to find a mix of excellent and problematic web sites.
4. Notify djohn@u.washington.edu when this project is completed and your evaluation page will be linked to the class web site.

Media Project #2:  Teen Media Literacy Web Site

1. Visit the teen media literacy web site www.teenhealthandthemedia.net and read the article by Kraak.
2. Develop a concept for using the web to enhance teen media literacy about nutrition.
3. Working individually, or in groups, develop a prototype of a new web page for the teen media literacy web site. 
4. Put this page into html format using Netscape Composer, MS Front Page, or other available software.
5. Notify djohn@u.washington.edu when this project is completed so that a link can be made to the class web site.

Nutrition Education Presentation

Assigment

Spring 2000:  SNAC Presentation

Modify an education session that has been prepared by the Seattle Nutrition Consortium so that it reflects one of the appropriate models or theories that have been presented in class. Identify the goals, objectives, and evaluation method for the presentation. Schedule and make an oral presentation in one of the SNAC settings. Evaluate your performance using the group nutrition education checklist. Prepare a brief paper describing your experience.

Nutrition Education Material Development

1. Review the concepts of a social marketing approach.
2. Do a literature search and review the evidenced based knowledge about sugar consumption, child behavior, and perceived impact of sugar consumption and child behavior.
3. Outline the steps that should be used in taking a social marketing approach to the development of an educational written handout on the topic of sugar consumption and child behavior.
4. Develop written material on this topic.  The target group for this project is child nutrition food service workers who need evidence based information to work with parents who have concerns about this issue.
5. Propose a plan to test, market, and evaluate the written material.
6. Prepare a brief paper that includes the information gathered at each step as well as the material developed.
7. This project can be done as an individual or group project.