Premium
Teacher‐Perceived Barriers, Facilitators, and Motivators to Providing Nutrition Education in Head Start Classrooms
Author(s) -
Dipper Allison,
Riggsbee Sydney,
Anderson Michelle,
Carraway-Stage Virginia,
Goodell L. Suzanne
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.815.12
Subject(s) - head start , psychological intervention , psychology , medical education , early childhood education , nursing , pedagogy , medicine , developmental psychology
Young children are capable of learning and understanding basic information about health and nutrition. The earlier a child is exposed to nutrition education (NE), the greater the opportunity for establishing healthy habits early in life. Uniquely, federal policy requires the provision of nutritious meals, snacks and NE to all children enrolled in Head Start (HS) programs. Teachers play a vital role in the provision of NE in the preschool classroom. Research investigating teacher barriers, motivators, and facilitators (BMF) to implementing NE in the preschool classroom are limited. However, K‐12 teachers have reported time, training, available curricular materials and administrative support as common issues. In‐depth individual telephone interviews were conducted with HS teachers to determine perceived BMF to NE in the preschool classroom. Teachers discussed a personal interest in the topic as it relates to children's long‐term health as a motivator; policy, training, and support from parents and administratiors as facilitators; and lack of time, resources (materials and lessons), and personal knowledge as major barriers to implementing NE in their classrooms. Results will be used to inform future NE interventions in the preschool classroom. Understanding teacher BMF can improve young children's long‐term health‐related behaviors through increased access to quality NE.