The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) uses a group 24-hour dietary recall (Gr24HDR) to measure changes in diet quality. Participant perceptions of the tool can guide implementation practices used by EFNEP Extension staff. Focus group (FG) sessions were conducted in five states and transcripts analyzed following a framework…

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease with several modifiable lifestyle factors. The Extension 'Live well, Eat well, be Active with Diabetes' curriculum provides four 90-minute sessions teaching individuals to live well, eat well, and be active with diabetes. Fourteen Extension educators implemented and evaluated the curriculum with 107…

Because FCS agents teach communities about dietary guidelines, it is important that they are aware of the latest nutrition research. This study assessed FCS agents' knowledge of popular fad diets (low-carbohydrate, intermittent fasting, detoxes and cleanses) and their potential adverse effects, and its relationship among location, certifications,…

Healthful dietary intakes are crucial for stemming the current childhood obesity epidemic. We examined the dietary intakes of 392 Michigan children aged 1-12 years. About 70% and 58% of children ate fruits and vegetables, respectively, each day; 26% drank sugar-sweetened beverages; and 31% ate with a television on. Children's vegetable intakes…

Many Americans do not meet the recommendations for diet and physical activity. A blender bike can be an effective tool when coupled with hands-on activities that reinforce health recommendations. We created "Blending Nutrition and Physical Activity: An Activity Guide for Use with Blender Bikes" to use when incorporating a blender bike…

Research on the family mealtime has shown its importance for youths' dietary attitudes and behaviors. Youths who have more frequent family meals often have more healthful dietary behaviors. However, little is known about the context and processes related to how family mealtimes affect youths' dietary behaviors. To address this gap, we examined the…

The aging process makes older adults vulnerable to the detrimental health effects of environmental contaminants. Our study assessed older adults' perceptions regarding diet as protective against environmental contaminants, levels of concern about exposure to environmental contaminants, and interest in learning about protective food-related…

Short dietary assessment instruments known as screeners have potential for use in evaluating nutrition education programming because detecting change in dietary intake can demonstrate movement toward program goals. Using screeners results in objective dietary intake data but involves less administrative time, training, and cost than other…

Are Extension healthy youth programs needed in highly educated U.S. communities? To answer this question, 175 children from four public elementary schools in Corvallis, Oregon, self-reported in a cross-sectional study their dietary intake, and 71 children provided a blood sample for measuring vitamin D concentrations. Most children had…

Nutrition professionals within the Cooperative Extension system use the USDA's interactive online tool SuperTracker, which is designed to help individuals track diet and physical activity (PA) to apply healthy eating patterns and improve PA. An investigation of all 50 states' Extension websites and interviews of Extension educators…

This article helps Extension professionals guide individuals in a successful long-term weight loss program. A program should focus on behavioral changes (improving eating habits and physical activity), not just weight loss. In order to do this, Extension professionals should implement behavior change strategies that motivate individuals to…

A prospective, controlled, randomized, crossover design was used to examine a nutrition education curriculum's effects on knowledge and behavior of 463 limited-resource older adults in 13 counties. Counties were randomized to begin with the treatment or control curriculum and then the remaining curriculum. Participants completed a pre-test…

The Affordable Care Act provides impetus for Extension efforts in worksite wellness. The study reported here examined the influence of two worksite wellness interventions, newsletters and individual counseling. Surveys examined dietary and physical activity behaviors of participants pre- and post-intervention (N = 157). Descriptive statistics,…