Impacting dietary behaviors of children from low income communities: An evaluation of a theory-based nutrition education program

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an expanded version of the Food Fit program, a 14-week, social cognitive theory based (SCT) nutrition intervention, with eighty-five children from a low-income community. Outcome measures included BMI percentile and dietary behaviors, which were evaluated before and after the program, and after a three-month follow up period, and social cognitive theory constructs, including behavioral capabilities (BC), self efficacy (SE), and outcome expectations (OE), which were evaluated before and after each lesson. Results showed significant improvements for behavioral capability in eleven of the fourteen lessons (overall p<0.001), but there were little changes in self-efficacy and outcome expectancies. There was also a significant improvement in dietary behaviors (p<0.036), and an increase in BMI-percentile (p<0.001). Compared with the previous implementation of Food Fit with children from middle-income families, this group had fewer self-reported changes in confidence and desire to use the skills discussed during the program. Food Fit appears to be effective at impacting children's behavioral capabilities, but less effective at impacting SE and OE in this low-income group. Reasons for the differences between the socioeconomic groups necessitate further investigation. Recommendations for future research and practice will be discussed.