Meal Time/Family Time: An Evaluation of a Nutrition Education Program Sondra M. Parmer, MS Alabama...
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Meal Time/Family Time: An Evaluation of a Nutrition Education Program
Sondra M. Parmer, MS
Alabama Cooperative
Extension System
Auburn University
Purpose of Study To provide a profile of family eating
characteristics currently lacking in the literature of a limited-resource population.
To evaluate knowledge and behavior change of individuals participating in Meal Time/Family Time, a nutrition education program focused on creating and implementing the shared family meal.
Why is family meal time important? nutrition
– more balanced meals– better eating habits
family well-being– vocabulary building/communication– family cohesiveness
Method
Sample Curriculum Instrument Development Data Collection Data Analysis
Sample
Managing Your Food DollarC ontro ln = 52
Meal Time/Fam ily Tim eExperim enta l
n = 54
Lim ited-R esource Fem ale Parents
Curriculum
Meal Time/Family Time - Experimental– understanding value of family meal time– creating the shared family meal
Managing Your Food Dollar - Control– understanding money management skills
related to food buying– developing skills for maximizing food
dollars
Instrument Development
Pre- and post-assessment Based on curriculum content 2nd grade reading level 30 Likert-scale items
– 10 knowledge items = knowledge scale– 20 behavior items = behavior scale
Instrument Validity and Reliability
Content validity Reliability - Pilot Test
– .60 Cronbach alpha for knowledge scale– .79 Cronbach alpha for behavior scale
Reliability - Study– .67 Cronbach alpha for knowledge scale– .81 Cronbach alpha for behavior scale
Data Collection
Pre- and post-assessments Administered by Program Assistants Assessments read out loud
Data Analysis
Frequency tables Pearson chi-square Repeated-measures ANOVA Paired-samples t-test
Demographic Characteristics
Mean age - 37.3 years African-American - 67% Rural - 67% Education
– 41% not completed high school– 50% graduated from high school– 9% attended schooling beyond high school
Characteristics of Family Meal Time
Behavior
Occurrence of Family Meals
How often do you eat dinner with your kids?
eat dinner with children
everyday5-6 days3-4 days1-2 daysnever
Pe
rce
nt
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Problem Areas
55% of respondents watched TV always or often during family meal times, an additional 28% watched TV sometimes during family meal times
48% of respondents were using meal time to solve problems
69% of respondents reported making their children eat as a way to have a healthy diet
Children’s Involvement
75% of respondent’s children were washing hands
HOWEVER, children were not involved in family meal events such as:– menu planning– food shopping– food preparation– dish washing
Knowledge and Behavior Change of Individuals Participating in
Meal Time/Family Time
Pre- and Post-Assessment Scores
Behavior Scale Knowledge Scale
Behavior Scale
One-way within-subjects ANOVA – independent variable = time of
assessments– dependent variable = pre- and post-
assessment scores on behavior scale Significant main effect for time
Behavior Scale: Post-Hoc Tests
No significant difference found between experimental and control groups at pre-assessment - groups are considered homogeneous at pre-assessment
Significant difference found between experimental and control groups at post-assessment
Behavior Scale: Additional Follow-Up Test Significant difference found for the
experimental group with means increasing over time
No significant difference found for the control group
Consistent with expectations, participants in the educational program, Meal Time/Family Time, positively changed their family meal behavior practices as compared to participants in the educational program, Managing Your Food Dollar.
Knowledge Scale
One-way within-subjects ANOVA– independent variable = time of
assessments– dependent variable = pre- and post-
assessment scores on knowledge scale Significant main effect for time
Knowledge Scale: Post-Hoc Tests
No significant difference found between experimental and control groups at pre-assessment - groups are considered homogeneous at pre-assessment
No significant difference found between experimental and control groups at post-assessment
Knowledge Scale: Additional Follow-Up Tests Significant difference found for the
experimental group with means increasing over time
Significant difference found for the control group with means increasing over time
These findings for the knowledge scale were not consistent with expectations, however they were not entirely surprising. It was discovered that one of the ten items on the assessment was also included in the curriculum taught to the control group.
Summary
2 objectives were met– Descriptive information was collected for a
limited-resource population concerning family meal time behavior and knowledge
– Meal Time/Family Time was found to be an effective educational program on the behavior dimension due to change found in experimental sample as compared to control group