TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a USDA Nutrition Education Program for Low-income Youth
AU - Townsend, Marilyn S.
AU - Johns, Margaret
AU - Shilts, Mical Kay
AU - Farfan-Ramirez, Lucrecia
PY - 2006/1
Y1 - 2006/1
N2 - Objective: Examine effectiveness of a state's Youth Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and assess the validity of the federal impact indicator method for reporting program outcomes. Design: A randomized, controlled field trial of 229 groups with 5,111 youth, 9-12 years old, in community settings. Intervention: 6- to 8- hour, 7-lesson education experience with food preparation and tasting, an education experience typical of EFNEP in California. Outcome Measures: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) impact indicators: nutrition knowledge, eating a variety of foods, food selection, and food preparation and safety practices. Analysis: Analysis of covariance model controlling for pretest, gender, age, and ethnicity, with group nested in condition. Results: Organizing responses by impact indicators, treatment participants made significant gains on the posttest compared to controls for 3 of 4 indicators (P < .008 to P < .0001). Gains were made by 34 to 68% of youth participants for 4 indicators. The impact indicator method for federal reporting compared favorably with results from a randomized controlled trial with groups nested in conditions. Conclusion and Implications: This is the first report in the literature of (1) a large evaluation study of Youth EFNEP and (2) an estimate of the validity of the USDA impact indicator method for reporting program outcomes.
AB - Objective: Examine effectiveness of a state's Youth Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and assess the validity of the federal impact indicator method for reporting program outcomes. Design: A randomized, controlled field trial of 229 groups with 5,111 youth, 9-12 years old, in community settings. Intervention: 6- to 8- hour, 7-lesson education experience with food preparation and tasting, an education experience typical of EFNEP in California. Outcome Measures: US Department of Agriculture (USDA) impact indicators: nutrition knowledge, eating a variety of foods, food selection, and food preparation and safety practices. Analysis: Analysis of covariance model controlling for pretest, gender, age, and ethnicity, with group nested in condition. Results: Organizing responses by impact indicators, treatment participants made significant gains on the posttest compared to controls for 3 of 4 indicators (P < .008 to P < .0001). Gains were made by 34 to 68% of youth participants for 4 indicators. The impact indicator method for federal reporting compared favorably with results from a randomized controlled trial with groups nested in conditions. Conclusion and Implications: This is the first report in the literature of (1) a large evaluation study of Youth EFNEP and (2) an estimate of the validity of the USDA impact indicator method for reporting program outcomes.
KW - children
KW - EFNEP
KW - evaluation
KW - impact indicator
KW - USDA
KW - youth
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jneb.2005.11.014
DO - 10.1016/j.jneb.2005.11.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 16595276
AN - SCOPUS:33646028525
VL - 38
SP - 30
EP - 41
JO - Journal of Nutrition Education
JF - Journal of Nutrition Education
SN - 1499-4046
IS - 1
ER -