California teachers support the Nutrition Competencies new nutrition instruction guidelines

Our research group reviewed, updated and field-tested “Nutrition Competencies for California's Children, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12,” a document that provides comprehensive and sequential nutrition goals for students. The review process included: (1) comparative analysis with state and national nutrition and health documents; (2) professional input by UC nutrition and education faculty and California Department of Education nutrition staff; (3) review by national, state and local experts in nutrition, education and food service; and (4) field review by and a survey of California public school teachers. The teachers that we surveyed over whelmingly agreed that the final Nutrition Competencies document was age- and academically appropriate for students in their grade levels. More than 81% found the Nutrition Competencies document well-structured and user-friendly. The teachers supported its inclusion in the school curriculum, and requested additional support materials such as lesson plans in order to incorporate nutrition lessons into the core subject areas.