Introduction: A Quasi-experimental study was performed to determine if education in the form of handouts would increase participant use in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP Ed) programs. Methods: Participants were recruited for this study the day of the intervention. The effectiveness of this study was based on changes in pre- and post- questionnaire responses. Participants completed a pre- questionnaire prior to the intervention, and a post questionnaire 3 weeks later. Results: There was a significant change in the number of participants who stated they received education/information on LIHEAP, and SNAP Ed (p = 0.023). All other results were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Further studies should be completed to evaluate the effectiveness of education on increasing knowledge, and participation in community programs. While this study provided insight to the benefit that education may have on community program participation, there was limited significance in results and further studies should be altered.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve behaviors, knowledge, and self-efficacy around chronic disease management in older adults. Design: Quasi-experimental design with one intervention group of older adults Methods: Participants were recruited for this study via an email from facility director, Joan Scotti and other marketing tactics. Effectiveness of the study was evaluated based on changes in pre and post survey questionnaires Setting: Slingerlands, NY Participants: 18 participants completed the study Intervention: The intervention included two days of instruction. Topics discussed included adequate intake to combat malnutrition and easy ways to prepare nutritious foods. The second day included a cooking demonstration. The intervention was conducted over two days one week apart. Participants completed pre and post survey questionnaires which included questions related to general nutrition knowledge, confidence reading nutrition fact labels, and preparing fruits and vegetables to assess the effectiveness of the intervention Results: Quantitative data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests in SPSS. Participant confidence in using and interpreting food labels, confidence including fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks, and familiarity with different methods of cooking fruits and vegetables significantly increased (p<0.05). Conclusions and Implications: A hands-on nutrition intervention and cooking demonstration can be effective at increasing nutrition-related knowledge and self-efficacy in older adults living at an independent senior living center.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition educational program on increasing individual knowledge in leading a heart healthy lifestyle among seniors aged 65 years and older. The design of the study was Quasi-experimental and was completed at the Amherst Senior Center, Amherst, Massachusetts. Participants were recruited through paper flyers as well as verbal recruitment during an exercise program at the senior center. Participant knowledge was assessed utilizing a pre-and post-test which included a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Duplicate tests were given prior to an educational session and two weeks post-education. Participant performance was evaluated by comparing test grades and results from the FFQ. Five men and women over the age of 65 years were included in the study. Data analysis was completed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Results showed participation in the educational session increased test scores by 24.6% (p<0.005) on average. There were no significant results between pre-and post-test FFQ between educational sessions. This indicated no significant difference in dietary changes. This limitation may be related to the number of education sessions that were conducted. Ideally, nutrition education sessions can be tailored to individual, or group needs, with the idea that these programs can be repeated for future use leading to positive health results.

Introduction: The incidence of Type 2 diabetes has been a rising concern for Americans since 1994. According to the CDC, in the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled as the American population has aged and become more overweight or obese. Health services are struggling with the morbidity, mortality, and cost associated with the complications of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) services have been shown to have a positive impact. United Health Services (UHS) in New York State offers in-person diabetic teaching classes in the form of a DSMES service. To date, there is no official educational program for patients unable to attend in-person diabetic teaching classes within the UHS hospital system. The purpose of this study is to evaluate any changes in knowledge, behaviors, and beliefs of a rural population after have completed a remote diabetes education session to help identify if patients would benefit from a formal remote education class. Methods: This study was conducted remotely in February 2022 using patients from the UHS database. The total number of rural participants was 4. Participant knowledge was evaluated by comparing scores on a pre-test and post-test. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for all statistical analysis as neither of the data being assessed had normality. Qualitative data were thematically examined. Results: The most common theme for barriers related to exercise and dietary change were "work" and "physical limitation". Seven of the 14 questions included in the questionnaire were assessed for statistical significance and despite seeing some data shifts; the diabetes education intervention did not produce a statistically significant change in test scores (Z= -1.342, p = .180). BMI and HbA1c were also tested for statistical significance. Participants appeared to have lost weight between the time of the needs assessment and the intervention as the mean BMI measurement from 2022 is less than the mean BMI from 2021. Although this may seem favorable, there was no significant change in BMI from when the needs assessment was conducted in October, 2021 to the completion of the education intervention in February, 2022 (p = .854). Participants had a reduction in their HbA1c after starting this study as the minimum value for HbA1c is lower in 2022 when compared to data in 2021. Again, despite this observation, there was no significant difference in average blood sugar measurement between 2021 and 2022. Conclusion: This study showed that the diabetic education intervention conducted over the telephone did not elicit a statically significant change in test scores, weight, or HbA1c among the rural participants with type 2 diabetes. Despite observing some data shifts the sample size was simply too small to show any significant change. Although this study did not use sophisticated technology to conduct interviews and deliver education, it opened up the opportunity to possibly introduce a more enhanced way of communication, especially for those unable to attend in-person diabetes teaching classes.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of educational nutrition newsletters on nutrition knowledge in high school athletes, designed to reduce the risk of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) through improved dietary habits. Design: Quasi-experimental. Methods: General nutrition knowledge, sports nutrition knowledge and eating habits and patterns in high school athletes were compared using pre- and post- surveys. Athletes’ nutrition related knowledge was evaluated by comparing final grades of the surveys. Athletes’ eating habits and patterns were evaluated by comparing specific survey questions. The intervention was developed utilizing the social cognitive theory. Setting: New York (online/remote). Participants: 6 high-school athletes scored on the pre- and post-surveys and received the weekly newsletters. 4 athletes were female, and 2 athletes were males. Intervention: A series of 4 weekly newsletters were emailed to participants at the start of each week. Topics of the newsletters pertained to RED-S and included an overview of RED-S, carbohydrates, protein, and vitamin D/calcium. Intervention: A series of 4 weekly newsletters were emailed to participants. Topics pertained to RED-S and included an overview of RED-S, carbohydrates, protein, and vitamin D/calcium. Results: Weekly newsletters significantly increased high school athletes’ knowledge pertaining to RED-S, general nutrition, and sports related nutrition (p < 0.05). 33% of participants showed an improvement in dietary habits and behaviors. The weekly newsletters had no significant effect on improving eating habits or eating patterns (p > 0.05). Conclusions and Implications: Online weekly educational newsletters utilizing the social cognitive theory is an effective mass media teaching technique to significantly improve high school athletes’ general and sports nutrition knowledge. Further research is needed on interventions to improve dietary habits.

The Community Food Pantry of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown provides food provisions to community members facing food insecurity in southern Westchester, NY. A desire to increase the nutritional value of the provisions provided to the patrons of the food pantry was expressed by pantry board members and by patrons via a previously conducted needs assessment. Additionally, increasing demands for food relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for the food pantry to adopt economically sustainable practices. An intervention study was conducted in two-phases to assess whether the nutritional value of the provisions offered to the pantry provisions could be improved while maintaining or minimizing associated costs. Phase-1 was characterized by proposing 4-tiers of changes to purchasing strategies the food pantry could implement to improve the nutritional value of the provisions purchased monthly while maintaining or minimizing associated costs. Phase-2 of the intervention was characterized by publishing an informational pamphlet to the food pantry’s website to improve the nutritional value of the foods donated to the pantry by community members and organizations. All 4-tiers of interventions presented in phase-1 succeeded in supporting the proposed hypothesis by demonstrating the ability to increase overall nutritional value of the purchase orders while maintaining or minimizing associated costs. Phase-2 of the intervention revealed mixed results by showing improvement in nutritional value for some nutrient categories while displaying unfavorable results in other categories. Overall, the results of this intervention study reveal that changes made to purchasing strategies for emergency food relief organizations can result in improved nutritional value of the provisions while maintaining or minimizing costs. Additional research is warranted to study the impact that improvement in the nutritional values of provisions offered to food pantry provisions has on the health and nutritional risk of individuals that utilize these services.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of nutrition education intervention on nutrition related knowledge and dietary eating habits of a 2nd grade class. The design included mixed methods including a quasi-experimental study. Data collection includes a pre and post test and FFQ, MyPlate, Eatrightpro educational handouts. The study took place in the Town of Webb Union Free School District, Old Forge, NY from 2021-2022 and included 15 2nd grade students ages 11-13 years old enrolled in the study and received a 6-week nutrition education intervention. A 6-week nutrition education intervention was utilized with lessons covering MyPlate, Food Groups, fruits and vegetables and related nutrition activities. SPSS and Excel were used for data analysis. A paired t-test was performed to analyze pre and post test results and a P value of <0.05 was used to determine statistical significance Post test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores. The nutrition related intervention significantly increased nutrition related knowledge and healthy eating habits of the 2nd grade. The short 6-week nutrition education intervention was found to be effective in increasing nutrition related knowledge in 2nd grade students in addition to promoting healthy dietary eating habits.