An Assessment of Rural Midwestern Schoolteachers' Nutrition Literacy and MyPlate Knowledge: Implications for Current Practice and Policy.

Abstract

Background. Rural schoolchildren outpace their urban counterparts in obesity and diet-related chronic disease rates. Educating students on nutrition basics may help reduce these health burdens in this focus population. Rural schoolteachers are ideally positioned to teach students about nutrition; however, to teach nutrition, one must first understand basic nutrition concepts. The nutrition literacy and knowledge of rural schoolteachers, as well as strategies to and barriers for integrating nutrition into rural classrooms, are understudied. Examining these topics may provide a deeper understanding of nutrition education in rural schools. Methods. Data were collected via an online survey of K-12 teachers (n = 153) from seven Midwestern rural school districts. This survey collected data on nutrition literacy, nutrition knowledge, and preferred methods for implementing nutrition education into current curricula. Descriptive statistics were reported; associations between nutrition literacy and knowledge were examined. Results. Nutrition literacy levels were borderline low (mean score 45.7 out of 64). Nutrition knowledge and literacy were associated (p < .001). Most teachers (n = 108, 70%) were/may be willing to change lessons to incorporate nutrition information, with hands-on and group activities being preferred strategies. Barriers to including nutrition information into curricula included lack of time, knowledge, and resources. Most teachers reported little support from administration for promoting nutrition in the classroom. Discussion. Implementing nutrition education into teachers' continuing education requirements may provide a means of improving teacher nutrition literacy and knowledge. Support from both state-level and local administration could benefit both nutrition knowledge acquisition by schoolteachers and implementation of nutrition education throughout the curriculum.