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Education Statistics Quarterly
Vol 2, Issue 1, Topic: Elementary and Secondary Education
Nutrition Education in Public Elementary School Classrooms, K-5
By: Carin Celebuski and Elizabeth Farris
 
This article was excerpted from the Introduction, Highlights, and Summary of the Statistical Analysis Report of the same name. The sample survey data are from the "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," conducted through the NCES Fast Response Survey System (FRSS).
 
 

The impact of diet on health has been described and documented in numerous studies and reports. Dietary recommendations and long-term health objectives, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] 1995) and the Year 2000 Health Objectives for the Nation (HHS 1991), call for Americans to reduce intake of total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol; increase intake of fruits, vegetables, grain products, and foods rich in calcium; and moderate intake of sugars, salt, and alcohol.

Because eating habits developed in childhood have the potential to last a lifetime, it is important for children to learn the benefits of good nutrition. Healthy People 2000 (HHS 1991) states as a national health objective that by the year 2000, at least 75 percent of the nation's schools will provide nutrition education from preschool through 12th grade.

This report presents findings from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," requested by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This survey, conducted in the spring of 1997 through the NCES Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), was designed as a follow-up to the 1996 survey "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools, K-12," also conducted through the FRSS (Celebuski and Farris 1996).

The goal of this study was to provide a national picture of the quantity and quality of nutrition education in public elementary school classrooms to inform current and future USDA initiatives, including the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children.1 This initiative, begun in 1995, adds requirements for schools to serve meals that meet federal dietary guidelines and encourages schools to teach children about nutrition so they are motivated to make healthy food choices. A pilot program for schools, called Team Nutrition, aims to improve nutrition education in classrooms.

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Training to teach nutrition

About half of elementary school teachers (52 percent) have had formal training (i.e., college coursework or inservice training) to teach about nutrition (figure A).

Resources in support of nutrition education

With a few exceptions, teachers generally reported high availability of resources in support of nutrition education, including healthy cafeteria meals (82 percent), reference materials (74 percent), support for use of instructional time (70 percent), and a written policy or guidelines (57 percent) (table A). Fewer teachers reported availability of high-quality inservice training in nutrition education (27 percent) and a coordinated school nutrition policy (37 percent). By region, teachers from the Southeast reported greater availability of both these resources than teachers from other regions.

Despite research indicating the importance of the resources noted above, teachers do not view access to these resources as the only thing needed to improve nutrition education. About 30 percent of teachers indicated that healthy school cafeteria meals, support for use of instructional time, and reference materials at school would improve nutrition education to a great extent. About one-fifth indicated that high-quality inservice training would improve it to a great extent.

Nutrition education in the classroom

Eighty-eight percent of elementary school teachers reported that they taught lessons about nutrition to their students in the 1996-97 school year. More kindergarten through second-grade teachers (92 percent) taught nutrition than did third- through fifth-grade teachers (83 percent).

The mean number of hours spent in a school year on nutrition education by elementary school teachers who taught nutrition was 13, below the minimum of 50 hours thought to be necessary for impact on behavior.

Approximately one-third of teachers (35 percent) who taught nutrition taught it as a separate subject, and about the same proportion integrated nutrition lessons to a great extent into health and physical education (39 percent) and science (33 percent). Fewer of these teachers integrated nutrition lessons to a great extent into reading and language arts (14 percent), history and social studies (4 percent), and mathematics (5 percent).

Figure A.—Most formal method used by public elementary school teachers to prepare them to teach nutrition: 1997

Figure A.- Most formal method used by public elementary school teachers to prepare them to teach nutrition: 1997

NOTE: To provide an unduplicated count, responses to questions on training were recoded to four categories: training as an undergraduate or graduate student, inservice/professional development training, research and reading on own, and no training. Percents may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," FRSS 60, 1997. (Originally published as figure 2 on p. 6 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Table A.—Percent of public elementary school teachers, K-5, who reported the availability at their school of various resources in support of nutrition education, by geographic region: 1997

Table A.- Percent of public elementary school teachers, K-5, who reported the availability at their school of various resources in support of nutrition education, by geographic region: 1997

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," FRSS 60, 1997. (Originally published as table 3 on p. 7 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Teachers reported they employed active learning strategies and did not rely exclusively on traditional lecturing methods for nutrition education. Active learning strategies, such as active discussion (57 percent), hands-on learning (29 percent), and collaborative work (27 percent), were used to a great extent by the most teachers. Teachers of grades K-2, teachers with higher levels of support for nutrition education from their schools,2 and teachers with college training in nutrition education were all more likely to use some active learning strategies to a moderate or great extent in their nutrition instruction (table B).

While about half (49 percent) of elementary school teachers who teach nutrition reported no barriers to cooperation with their school meals program staff in providing nutrition education, those who did report barriers tended to focus on the following: lack of instructional time and time on the part of the meals program staff, being unsure of what activities are possible, and difficulty of schedule coordination between teachers and meals program staff.

Working with parents

Teachers with high levels of support from their schools and teachers with college training in nutrition education utilized family involvement strategies for nutrition education more often than teachers with low levels of support and those with no training, respectively (table C). For example, teachers with high levels of support were more likely to include parents in nutrition homework assignments (85 percent) compared to teachers with low levels of support (66 percent); and teachers with college coursework in nutrition education were more likely to include parents in nutrition homework assignments (82 percent) compared to teachers with no training (48 percent).

Table B.—Among public elementary school teachers, K-5, who taught nutrition, percent who used various teaching strategies to a moderate or great extent, by various characteristics: 1997

Table B.- Among public elementary school teachers, K-5, who taught nutrition, percent who used various teaching strategies to a moderate or great extent, by various characteristics: 1997

*The response categories moderate extent and great extent were combined for this analysis. NOTE: Does not include the 12 percent of teachers who did not teach nutrition.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," FRSS 60, 1997. (Originally published as table 9 on p. 14 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Instructional materials for nutrition education

When teachers who taught nutrition were asked whether the instructional materials they used were of high quality, about one in four (24 percent) said they were up to date to a great extent, 41 percent said that they were age appropriate to a great extent, and 23 percent said that they were appealing to students to a great extent. About one in five (21 percent) reported having enough materials for all their students to a great extent, and about the same proportion (19 percent) reported that they did not have enough materials for all students.

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The results of this survey show that nutrition education is going on in elementary school classrooms and that many of the instructional materials and techniques used are those that research indicates may be effective. However, the classroom time currently devoted to this topic may not be sufficient to change eating behaviors in students. Previous research ( Journal of Nutrition Education 1995; Lytle 1995; Olson 1995) suggests that nutrition instruction might be improved through inservice training focusing on how to

  • use active learning strategies,

  • integrate nutrition lessons into other subjects, and

  • involve families in nutrition education.
Table C.—Percent of public elementary school teachers, K-5, who reported they or their schools used various strategies to any extent to involve parents in the nutrition education of their children, by various characteristics: 1997

Table C.- Percent of public elementary school teachers, K-5, who reported they or their schools used various strategies to any extent to involve parents in the nutrition education of their children, by various characteristics: 1997

*The response categories small extent, moderate extent, and great extent were combined for this analysis.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," FRSS 60, 1997. (Originally published as table 14 on p. 20 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Teachers reported that they were interested in receiving inservice training about these topics. Those who received high support or had some types of training were more likely to do some of these things than teachers with low support or with no training, respectively. In addition, teachers with inservice training were more likely to use instructional materials that were up to date and age appropriate than teachers with no training.

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Footnotes

1This initiative is part of the implementation of the National School Lunch Program (7 CFR Parts 210 and 220).

2Teachers were asked about the availability of six specific resources and policies in support of nutrition education at their school (see table A). Teachers reporting zero to three resources available to them were categorized as being in low-support schools; those reporting four to six resources were in high-support schools.



Celebuski, C., and Farris, E. (1996). Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (NCES 96-852). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Journal of Nutrition Education. (1995). The Effectiveness of Nutrition Education and Implications for Nutrition Education Policy, Programs, and Research: A Review of Research [Special issue], 27 (6).

Lytle, L.A. (1995). Nutrition Education for School-Aged Children. Journal of Nutrition Education , 27 (6): 298-311.

Olson, C.M. (1995). Inservice Preparation in Nutrition Education for Professionals and Paraprofessionals. Journal of Nutrition Education,27 (6): 347-354.

U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1995). Dietary Guidelines for Americans (4th ed.). Home and Garden Bulletin No. 232. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. (1991). Healthy People 2000:National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives (PHS 91-50212). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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Data source: NCES Fast Response Survey System, "Nutrition Education in U.S. Public Schools: Elementary Teacher Survey, K-5," FRSS 60, 1997.

For technical information, see the complete report:

Celebuski, C., and Farris, E. (2000). Nutrition Education in Public Elementary School Classrooms, K-5 (NCES 2000-040).

Author affiliations: C. Celebuski and E. Farris, Westat.

For questions about content, contact Shelley Burns (shelley.burns@ed.gov).

To obtain the complete report (NCES 2000-040), call the toll-free ED Pubs number (877-433-7827), visit the NCES Web Site (http://nces.ed.gov), or contact GPO (202-512-1800).


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