Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects
Access Control
Open Access
Degree Program
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Degree Track
Public Health Nurse Leader
Year Degree Awarded
2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/8543708
Month Degree Awarded
May
Keywords
nutrition, physical activity, newsletters, social media
Advisor
Karen Kalmakis
DNP Project Chair
Karen Kalmakis
DNP Project Member Name
Pamela Aselton
DNP Project Outside Member Name
Bruce Duke
Abstract
Background: School-age children in Kettering, Ohio are at risk of morbidity from chronic disease indicated by the percentage of overweight children in the state compared to national averages. A food program has been established to provide children of low-income families free and reduced meals. Currently the food program does not include education on nutrition and physical activity as recommended by national guidelines. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to add an educational intervention for nutrition and physical activity to the current food program in order to meet the current guidelines for nutrition and physical activity. Methods: Monthly newsletters were sent home for students and parents to read, and educational information was posted on social media. The newsletter project was evaluated using a one group pre- and post-test design. A 7-question pre-test was administered at the beginning of the school year to measure knowledge on nutrition and physical activity before the educational program was launched and again post educational intervention. Results: Eighty-nine pre-tests were returned and the average calculated score was 72%. Sixty-eight post-tests were returned with an average score of 67%. Respondents that indicated "Yes" they did read the newsletters had slightly better post scores, with an average of 71%. Conclusions: Although the educational intervention did not improve test scores, other data collected demonstrates that the newsletters and social media video education are effective means of communicating with the population of interest, and qualitative data collected provides useful feedback to improve the food program in the future.
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