Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Monday, October 18Poster Session: Education and Counseling; Ethics and Professionalism; Foodservice Management; Informatics; Organization Management; Research, Evidence-Informed Practice and Quality Improvement; Safety and Risk ManagementThe Association Between Classroom Food Habits, Perceived Personal Health and Nutrition Beliefs in Elementary Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers
Section snippets
Learning Outcome
Understand how teachers’ perceived health and nutrition beliefs and impact the classroom food environment.
Objective
Compare in-service and pre-service teachers’ (PCTs) attitudes toward personal health and nutrition on their classroom food habits Design: In this cross-sectional design participants completed validated questionnaires to assess nutrition knowledge, nutrition self-efficacy, attitudes toward the school food environment, classroom food practices, personal health beliefs and BMI.
Participants
Teachers (n=24) were recruited from a southeast U.S. public elementary school and PCTs (n=85) were recruited from a local university. Participants were predominately Hispanic (70%) and female (90%); average age and BMI (teachers: 33-40 yrs, 29.9; PCTs: 18-24 yrs, 26.2) Statistical Analysis: One-way ANOVA, regressions and descriptive analyses conducted using SPSSv.26
Results
Teachers had significantly higher nutrition knowledge (F=13.173,p=.0004) and lower attitudes toward the school food environment (F=8.100,p=.005) compared to PCTs. PCTs’ personal health beliefs were positively associated with nutrition self-efficacy (r=.416,p<.001), classroom food practices were positively associated with attitudes toward unhealthy foods in school (r=.331,p=.002); and BMI was inversely associated with attitudes toward the school food environment (r=-.292,p=.009) and personal
Conclusion
This study identified personal health views which impact teachers’ beliefs on nutrition and classroom food practices. Teachers were more knowledgeable about nutrition yet viewed the school food environment as less influential on children compared to PCTs. Both groups had low confidence in their personal health. Additional research is needed to improve teachers’ health beliefs and classroom food environments.
Funding source
None