An Interactive, Self-Paced Training Tool for Nutrition Education Paraprofessionals

The American diet is generally unhealthy and characterized by high intake of fat and saturated fat, and low intake of calcium, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fiber. The most recent USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's Healthy Eating Index reveals that only 10% of the U.S. population has a good diet, while 74% have diets in need of improvement and an additional 16% have a poor diets. This suggests an urgent need for nutrition education to help individuals to make better, more healthful choices. This project will develop a training curriculum intended to increase mastery of nutrition concepts and improve teaching skills of NEPs. The instructional modality will be self-paced instruction with mastery testing for each lesson. The curriculum and training materials will be based on current research and best practices to prepare paraprofessionals with appropriate knowledge of nutrition basics and teaching competence to effectively provide nutrition education for their program participants. The pedagogical emphasis will be on acquisition of knowledge and skills appropriate for providing effective instruction to participants in nutrition assistance programs.