P56 (continued)

S34 Poster Abstracts Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior � Volume 43, Number 4S1, 2011

Wisconsin, West Virginia) involved in development of anon-line nutrition intervention.Description: Input from PIs and CCs involved in theY.E.A.H. Project was solicited for development of the man-agement access portal. Consultations occurred with com-puter technical support and discussions among PIs andCCs to determine the needs of the programming to meetthe project requirements for a Web-based program deliv-ery, participant management, and data collection.Evaluation: Functionality, ease of use, and inclusion ofrequired elements were evaluated during 2 pilot trials.Feedback from PIs and CCs was solicited through groupteleconferencing and e-mail by the lead institution.Conclusions and Implications: The Web-access man-agement portal was developed to support 2 global func-tions: (1) participant management, which includesscreening for eligibility, obtaining informed consent, sur-vey delivery, outcomes data collection, automatic appoint-ment scheduling for anthropometric assessments, andautomated monitoring of intervention participants levelof activity; and (2) program components, which includeability to load lessons, stagedmessages and videos, and set-ting of access dates and differential delivery of lessons andmessages to participants. Two levels of access were granted:unlimited access provided to lead institution for programdevelopment and delivery and limited state-specific accessfor participant monitoring.Funding:National Research Initiative from the USDA Na-tional Institute for Food and Agriculture.Grant Number: 2009-55215-0546.

P57 Impact of the Well Seasoned Program onSeniors’ Shopping, Cooking, and EatingBehaviorsKathleen Porter, RD, kjp2103@columbia.edu, City Harvest,Inc., 575 8th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018;Maggie Meehan, MA, MPH, RD, CDN; Basil Reyes, MPH

Objective: To determine the effect of the Well SeasonedProgram (WSP) on participants’ thoughts and behaviors re-lated to budgeting for, shopping for, cooking, and eatinghealthy foods, as well as increasing physical activity.Design, Setting and Participants: The study is single-group, pre-post survey. Study participants (n¼ 56) are low-in-comeseniors from5publichousingsites inNewYorkCitywhoattendedWSP classes and completed the survey instrument atpre or post. The majority are women and black or Hispanic.Intervention: WSP consists of 8 weekly 2-hour classes.Classes are structured around a specific nutrition theme(eg, eating for a healthy heart) and include food prepara-tion and a sharedmeal, nutrition education activities, facil-itated group discussions, physical activity, and a budget/finance component.Outcome Measures and Analysis: A specifically devel-oped 44-item outcome instrument assessing mediators(outcome expectations, self-efficacy, behavioral intent)and self-reported behaviors related to the 5 target behav-iors was administered at the start and end of each class

series. Independent t tests were used to determine pre-post differences during the preliminary analyses.Results: Preliminary analyses indicate significant positivechanges in participants’ outcome expectations related tobudgeting for and cooking healthy foods, as well as theirintentions related to shopping for healthy foods and en-gaging in more physical activity.Conclusions and Implications: Findings from this pi-lot study indicate that WSP affects seniors’ perceptionsand plans related to budgeting for, shopping for, and cook-ing healthy foods and engaging in physical activity. Nutri-tion education for a low-income senior population can beeffective at supporting positive dietary and physical activ-ity changes that help seniors age in place.Funding:USDepartment of Housing and Urban Develop-ment.Grant Number: NY005REL038A007.

P58 A Food Educator’s Perspective:Understanding Students’ and Teachers’Perceived Values of an Elementary SchoolExperiential Foods CurriculumKate Topham, BS, MS, kate.topham@colostate.edu,Colorado State University, 234 Gifford Building, CampusDelivery 1571, Fort Collins, CO 80523;Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, PhD, RD

Objective: The purpose of this study was 2-fold: (1) toidentify the value of cooking in fourth-grade classroomsfor teachers and students, and (2) to understand the rolenutrition educators have on student learning of healthfuleating and cooking.Design, Setting and Participants: The Cooking withKids curriculum was used, which follows the tenets of thesocial cognitive theory and experiential learning theory.Intervention: The intervention included 134 fourth-grade students receiving 1 introductory lesson, 3 tastingclasses, and 3 cooking classes in the spring of 2010. Class-room teachers were present for each of the lessons.Outcome Measures and Analysis: Three data sourceswere collected and analyzed regarding the research objec-tives: teacher focus group interviews, nutrition educatorobservations, and student thank-you letters.Results: Triangulation of these data revealed 3 overarch-ing themes: (1) cooking as an interdisciplinary approachto learning, (2) factors affecting willingness to explorenew foods, and (3) application of Cooking with Kids out-side the classroom. Two powerful subthemes emerged:the effect the food educator has on acceptance of the cur-riculum by students and the celebration of success andownership by students toward foods they created.Conclusions and Implications: Children and teachersperceive cooking and nutrition education as a valuable andnecessary addition to their everyday learning. This sug-gests that learning cooking skills and trying new foods iswell received at the fourth-grade level. Furthermore, thisprovides evidence about the importance of an enthusiasticand facilitating educator.Funding: USDA NIFA ARFI.Grant Number: 2007-05062.