Nutrition Education

Nutrition Education is any combination of educational strategies, accompanied by environmental supports, designed to facilitate voluntary adoption of food choices and other food- and nutrition-related behaviors conducive to health and well-being. Nutrition education is delivered through multiple venues and involves activities at the individual, community, and policy levels.^[1]

This definition has been adopted by the Society for Nutrition Education and was authored by Dr. Isobel Contento, a leading authority in nutrition education. The work of nutrition educators takes place in colleges, universities and schools, government agencies, cooperative extension, communications and public relations firms, the food industry, voluntary and service organizations and with other reliable places of nutrition and health education information.

Examples of government agencies that incorporate nutrition education into their programs, include:

• Let's Move, launched by First Lady Michelle Obama in February 2010, through the Healthier US School Challenge;
• USDA Food and Nutrition Service, which provides nutrition education materials to children and adults of all ages and nutrition education to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants and applicants;
• USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the cooperative extension program; and
• MyPyramid.gov, through the Ten Tips Nutrition Education Series.

Additional Publications

The Journal for Nutrition Education and Behavior, the official journal of the Society for Nutrition Education, documents and disseminates original research, emerging issues and practices relevant to nutrition education and behavior worldwide.

References

1. ^ Nutrition education: Linking research, theory and practice. Jones & Bartlett, 2007

External links

• http://www.sne.org
• http://letsmove.gov
• http://www.mypyramid.gov/
• http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/
• http://www.nifa.usda.gov/

See Also

Let's Move
Food and Nutrition Service