Poster #105 - Teacher Nutrition Knowledge, Personal Health, and Experience is Associated with Policy-Related Attitudes and Classroom Behavior

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Health, Growth, Injury

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Prior research has demonstrated that parent health and eating behaviors are associated with children’s eating and health. However, less research has examined the health behavior of teachers, who spend thirty or more hours per week with their students. The present study explored differences among teachers’ individual health factors and associations with attitudes toward school nutrition policy and food-related classroom practices.

Study Population: A national sample of teachers (N=93) who currently teach elementary (40%), middle (23%), high school (26%), or multiple grades (11%) completed an online survey. The majority of teachers (Mage = 40, SD = 11.8) were female (90%) and white (90%). On average, teachers had 13 years of experience (range 0-35, SD = 9.4). Approximately two-thirds had a BMI classified as overweight or obese (70%) and slightly under half of the sample reported currently dieting to lose weight (41%).

Methods: Current teachers, recruited through social media and emails to school principals, completed an anonymous online self-report survey. Teachers reported on basic demographics and their personal health behaviors (e.g., fruit and vegetable consumption, satisfaction with current diet; Kubik, Lytle, Hannan, Story, & Perry, 2002), nutrition knowledge (Alexander & Tepper, 1995), attitudes toward unhealthy nutrition-related school policies (e.g., support for fast-food companies in the schools), food-related classroom practices (e.g., using food as a reward), and modeling (e.g., eating healthy or unhealthy food during class).

Results: There were significant bivariate correlations among predictors for all outcomes except healthy modeling, and correlations ranged from -.38 to .13; healthy practices was only associated with dieting status (see Table 1). BMI was not associated with any outcomes. Significant predictors were entered into hierarchical linear regressions. In regression analyses (see Table 2), fewer years of teaching experience, lower nutrition knowledge, and a lower personal health rating were related to support for unhealthy nutrition policy (p <.001, R2 = .23). Lower nutrition knowledge and personal health ratings were associated with unhealthy modeling (p = .008, R2 =.11). Years of teaching experience and nutrition knowledge were associated with unhealthy classroom practices (p = .02, R2 = .08), but only nutrition knowledge remained marginally significant in the final model.

Discussion: Differences in teachers’ attitudes and unhealthy behaviors in the classroom appear to be related to their nutrition knowledge and personal health practices. In general, teachers with less experience, less nutrition knowledge, and worse personal health practices used the most unhealthy classroom feeding practices. Healthy practices and modeling were not predicted by these teacher variables. Because these measures examine use of healthy food in the classroom, they do not examine teachers who do not use food in the classroom. Not assessing this behavior, which also may promote health, may be suppressing findings. Our results suggest that education about nutrition and reducing barriers to teachers’ personal health behaviors may enhance their teaching practices. Future studies should examine how these behaviors and attitudes influence student eating behavior and health practices.

Authors

• Lindsay Hamilton, Bowling Green State University
  Presenting Author

• Lynnel C. Goodman, Bowling Green State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lindsey Roberts, Bowling Green State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren A. Dial, Bowling Green State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dara Musher-Eizenman, Bowling Green State University
  Non-Presenting Author