Tools- of Changes

Using Food Challenges and Video Technology for Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Knowledge acquisition and nutrition assessment skills alone have not resulted in changes in diet among college students. An intervention that used guided goal setting and food challenges combined with video instruction helped build self-efficacy and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. The intervention was successful in both a traditional, in-person classroom and an online course delivery format.

Traditional college nutrition programs focused on knowledge acquisition and nutrition assessment skills increased nutrition knowledge but did not change dietary behavior. Research has shown that knowledge and nutrition assessment skills should be supplemented with behavioral self-efficacy to prompt lifestyle change. A pre-post quasi-experimental design was used to study 138 students participating in weekly food challenges during a 15-week nutrition course designed to apply nutrition knowledge, develop self-efficacy and promote positive behavior change. Food challenges were implemented by a guided goal-setting strategy. Cooking videos, which modeled important nutrition-related skills, accompanied each challenge. Students independently selected 2-goal options to implement weekly and wrote a reflection about their experiences. Analyses showed significant increases in cognitive outcomes (produce consumption self-efficacy, cooking self-efficacy using fruit/vegetables) as well as self-efficacy and behavioral outcomes (fruit consumption, and vegetable consumption.)