Publication/Revision Year of most recent version: 2018

Teen Battle Chef (TBC)

Teen Battle Chef (TBC) is a direct education and PSE change intervention designed to develop skills in nutrition, cooking, and leadership for participants and their families through cooking lessons, a PSE campaign, ongoing nutrition education, development of youth leaders, and supporting a culture of wellness in partner organizations. TBC includes eight sessions in which participants learn plant-focused recipes and cooking skills to compete in cooking battles. After eight weeks of skill development, the Teen Chefs choose one of four tracts to impact PSE change. The four tracts are bundled with the curriculum license and include School Food Ambassadors (for collaborating with schools’ food service), Special Event Headliners (for ensuring healthy options at School Events), CHEFS 4 Change (program for youth collaboration with local bodegas to support healthy ‘grab n’ go’ options), and Culinary Coaches (teaching other students healthy meal/snack strategies). The Teen Battle Chef LIVE online version allows for online instruction using an online delivery platform, such as Zoom or Google Meet.

TBC School Food Ambassadors have been effectively utilized as partners with school food service to co-develop new school menu items and promote them with demos and sampling. This active collaborative creates peer-driven motivation for more students to participate in school lunch and breakfast, which is easily measured through school food service participation rates.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change

Nutrition Environment Food Pantry Assessment Toolkit

The Nutrition Environment Food Pantry Toolkit is a PSE change intervention designed to create pantry spaces where the healthy choice is the easy choice and that promote dignity and inclusivity. The toolkit includes site implementation materials that support pantries and technical assistance providers in carrying out small and large-scale interventions specific to food distribution styles, pantry layout, promotion techniques of healthful foods, variety of fruits and vegetables available, accessibility of information about community resources, and meeting the needs of diverse pantry audiences. Pantry-level interventions are meant to be low or no-cost. The toolkit includes the Nutrition Environment Food Pantry Assessment Tool (NEFPAT), a validated environmental assessment that quantifies the nutrition environment of food pantries. It also includes NEFPAT-user training materials.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: PSE Change

Mindful Eating in Preschool Setting

Mindful Eating in Preschool Setting (MEPS) is an intervention designed to prevent and reverse childhood obesity, help children develop healthy relationships with food, prevent the development of eating disorders, and instill early taste preferences for diverse healthy foods. MEPS includes training child care centers’ teaching staff on the basics of mindfulness and mindful eating and its implementation in classrooms. Its main premises are removing all distractions (technology, TV, toys) while eating; bringing children’s attention to foods on the table, and talking about foods’ colors, tastes, textures, and origins; engaging children in table setting and cleaning, serving themselves, and helping their peers (elements of family-style dining); encouraging (never forcing) children to try different foods; ensuring mealtimes are always at a table, using plates – never on-the-go; teaching children to eat when hungry, and not to turn to food in distress or when bored. Staff training consists of 3 1-hour training sessions with a follow-up upon need with workshops and technique demonstrations for further implementation in classroom settings.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education

One Healthy Breakfast Program

The One Healthy Breakfast Program (OHBP) is a direct education, social marketing, and PSE change intervention designed to improve home, community, and school food environments to ensure that every student starts their day with a healthy breakfast. Direct education is delivered by classroom teachers utilizing the Breakfast Learning Activities for Students and Teachers (BLAST) curriculum, an interactive lesson series that encourages students in grades 4-8 to learn behavior-changing skills through analyzing and evaluating foods and their food choices. Social marketing campaigns take place through branded promotional materials for use in schools and the community, monthly newsletters to families, and corner store social marketing to encourage students to choose healthy breakfast items. PSE change occurs through promotion of breakfast after the bell options in schools. These components are combined with community engagement to provide students and their families the tools needed to choose healthier options in the morning regardless of whether they eat at home, school, or at the corner store.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing, PSE Change

Husky Reads: A Food and Nutrition Literacy Program for Preschool Children

Husky Reads is a direct education intervention designed to promote nutrition and literacy among preschool children. Husky Reads works in conjunction with three other programs (Husky Nutrition On-the-Go for parents, Little City Sprouts nutrition and gardening program, and technical assistance for policy changes) to form coordinated education and environmental change efforts for early childhood education (ECE). The curriculum includes a series of 10 weekly lessons lasting 30 minutes each that introduce the preschool-age children to MyPlate while improving fruit and vegetable literacy. Each lesson includes reading at least one children’s book, an activity or game, and food tasting to complement the learning objectives.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Young at Heart Strength Training – A Fall Prevention Program (YAH)

The Young at Heart Strength Training – A Fall Prevention Program (YAH) is a direct education intervention designed to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviors in older adults age >60 and/or in persons with disabilities. YAH classes meet for 1 hour, 2-3 times per week with at least one day of rest between classes for adequate recovery. There is a minimum of 32 sessions but can be ongoing without an end date. To maintain fidelity, all instructors are certified through an 8-hour training and must complete 4 hours of continuing education provided by Healthy Aging Association through the instructor meetings, which can be viewed via the internet. YAH classes are offered free of charge to all attendees. Classes are progressive and always consist of a warm-up, a movement phase with stretching and balance activities, followed by a cool-down.

Delivery Methods: In-Person or Virtual

Target Behavior: Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time

Intervention Type: Direct Education

VeggieBook, a mobile app for Android and iOS smartphones (VB)

VeggieBook is a social marketing and direct education intervention app that is designed to help users choose customized recipes and healthy eating tips which ultimately lead to increased vegetable-based preparation for meals at home. The app invites a user to create a new VeggieBook or SecretsBook. VeggieBooks are sets of recipes, each set built around 1 of 10 vegetables. A series of questions posed by the app helps users select recipes and food preparation tips of interest. Recipes use simple ingredients most households have and have been tested for user-appeal. SecretsBooks are 5 sets of illustrated ideas about food use and acquisition–Secrets to Better Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Shopping. The app’s emphasis on users’ choices promotes just-in-time learning.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing

Cooking for a Lifetime of Cancer Prevention

The Cooking for a Lifetime of Cancer Prevention (C4L program) is a direct education intervention designed to increase participant’s intention to: 1) implement nutrition and physical behaviors for cancer prevention (achieve and maintain a healthy weight, consume fruits and vegetables, limit red meat, avoid processed meat, choose whole grains, and limit alcohol, and meet US physical activity guidelines), and 2) be screened for breast, cervical, and/or colorectal cancer as age and sex appropriate. In addition, participants will be able to: 3) select and prepare healthy foods for an overall healthy lifestyle and for cancer prevention, and 4) eligible participants will be able to connect with referral to free and reduced cost cancer screening services through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCP) or other cancer resources in their community. The one-time, three-hour workshop includes educational presentations that address SNAP-Ed outcomes, including encouraging healthy eating, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time, and improving food resource management.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Other: Cancer screening participation

Intervention Type: Direct Education

The Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project (SHFPP)

The Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project (SHFPP) is a PSE change intervention designed to improve the food environment and food safety practices within an emergency food pantry. The SHFPP manual provides tools to support the adoption of research-informed strategies likely to expand access and promote safe and healthy food. Users are encouraged to follow an action cycle with 5 steps outlined in the manual (e.g., assessment, strategies, action planning, implementation, and evaluation). The project is implemented and maintained with collaboration between SNAP-Ed educators, food pantry staff and volunteers, and other stakeholders. This team is encouraged to assess where changes can be made including readiness and sources of food procurement. The stand-alone tools help guide the team to plan policies and practices that change the food pantry environment in terms of health and safety. Example strategies include donor education, improvements in food layout or display, signage, procuring local food, and food safety and nutrition policies. Finally, the toolkit emphasizes continuously evaluating and assessing the efforts and changes made in the pantry.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance, Other: Food Safety

 Intervention Type: PSE Change

iCook 4-H: Cooking, Eating, and Playing Together

The iCook 4-H Program is a direct education intervention designed to reach the following objectives: increase cooking skills and culinary self-efficacy, improve openness to new foods, increase frequency and/or quality of meal time with family members, and decrease sedentary time. It is intended for out-of-school settings with the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles for 9- and 10-year-old youth and the adult who prepares their meals. Grounded in the Social Cognitive Theory, interactions among youth, adults, and leaders provide opportunities for observational learning, reciprocal role modeling, and building self-efficacy.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Other: Family engagement/communication and goal setting

Intervention Type: Direct Education