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Abstract #159237

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Robert J. Bensley, PhD¹, John J. Brusk, MPH², Judith V. Anderson, DrPH, RD³, Jason Rivas, MPA², and Nelda Mercer, MS, RD, FADA³. (1) Community Health Education, Western Michigan University, 4024 SRC, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, 2693873081, robert.bensley@wmich.edu, (2) wichealth, Western Michigan University, 4024 SRC, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, (3) WIC Division, Michigan Department of Community Health, 320 S. Walnut, Lansing, MI 48913

The Internet has increasingly become a viable option for providing nutrition education as part of the WIC process. Seven states have adopted the use of wichealth.org for the purposes of providing secondary education contact to over 150,000 WIC participants. Evaluation results over the past 5 years have consistently found wichealth.org users to have easy access to Internet-based learning and wichealth.org to be perceived as highly helpful and easy to use, a method for increasing belief in ability to engage in healthy parent-child feeding behaviors, and a preferred method for receiving nutrition education as compared to other opportunities offered within local WIC clinics. The Internet can be used for more than just initial intent to change, but rather also serve as a resource for continued behavioral counseling. This session will not only provide an overview of impact of the wichealth.org Internet-based nutrition education program, but also provide insight into the WIC Resource Matrix, a current initiative being designed to provide WIC nutrition counselors with added ability to provide stage-specific resources during counseling as a means of continuing to assist clients progress along the readiness to change continuum. The potential impact is a long-term staged-based change system, increasing the likelihood of successful parent-child feeding behavior change.

Learning Objectives:

• Determine the impact an Internet-based approach can have on parent-child feeding behavior intent among WIC clients.
• Explore how Internet education can fit within a behavioral counseling cycle.
• Identify characteristics of and barriers to using Internet-based nutrition education.

Keywords: Internet, Nutrition

Related Web page: www.wichealth.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout
• Multimedia recording