Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Stratton, Jessica Nicole
URN	etd-04242008-141138
Title	Examination of Head Start students' and teachers' attitudes and behaviors toward trying new foods as part of a social marketing campaign
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Serrano, Elena L. Committee Chair Fu, Victoria R. Committee Member Hosig, Kathryn Wright Committee Member
Keywords	Food Friends Head Start teachers preschool food neophobia
Date of Defense	2008-04-15
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Objective: To determine the impact of preschool teacher food-related attitudes and behaviors on child food behaviors. Design: A twelve-week intervention and observational study with teachers completing questionnaires before and after the intervention. Setting: Head Start classrooms throughout Virginia. Participants: 177 preschool Head Start teachers and 1534 children. Intervention(s): Food Friends, a twelve-week social marketing campaign, was conducted by Head Start teachers during the Spring 2007, introducing children to novel foods with food puppets, nutrition-related activities and novel food tasting opportunities. Hypotheses related to the impact of preschool teachers’ food-related attitudes and behaviors on children’s food behaviors were tested, and changes in teacher and child food behaviors were measured. Main Outcome Measures: Teacher food-related attitudes and behaviors were measured/quantified. Child food behaviors were measured and compared to teacher attitudes and behaviors. Analysis: Descriptive, correlational and t-test statistics were conducted. Results: Teachers’ and children’s acceptance of novel foods improved after the Food Friends program, however, no direct correlations were found between teacher food-related attitudes and behaviors and child food behaviors. Conclusions and Implications: Preschool teacher attitudes and behaviors may not significantly impact child food-related behaviors. More research is needed to determine effective ways of encouraging positive child food behaviors.
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