Nutrition Knowledge and Associated Behavior Changes in a Holistic, Short-term Nutrition Education Intervention with Low-income Women

Objective: To assess the impact of a short-term nutrition intervention using education on a comprehensive array of nutrition and health topics in low-income women. Design: Pre- and postintervention surveys; 1 study condition (intervention group); experiential learning; pilot testing of education sessions. Setting: Community centers, homeless shelters, or University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area. Participants: Ethnically diverse, low-income women (n = 118), 23-45 years of age. Intervention: Three educational sessions providing a comprehensive curriculum of nutrition and health education via experiential and interactive lectures, activities, and demonstrations. One week to implement knowledge and behavioral changes, and pre- and postsurvey sessions to collect anthropometric data and evaluate changes in knowledge and behavior. Main Outcome Measures: Health benefits of all food groups; identification of healthful foods; shopping, cooking, and gardening; and energy balance. Analysis: Paired t tests, Pearson correlations. Results: Postintervention increases in nutrition knowledge and favorable nutrition behavioral changes (P < .05). Conclusions and Implications: A short-term nutrition intervention using comprehensive nutrition and health education through experiential and interactive lessons, activities, and demonstrations has the capacity to increase nutrition knowledge and favorably change nutrition behaviors in a sample of low-income women.