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March is National Nutrition Month. The 2023 theme from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is “Fuel for the Future.” 

I’d like to take you through a few teaching tips pulled directly from the newly release eighth edition of Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Practical Guide which maps neatly to this theme. The below examples are from Chapter 5 (Stages and Processes of Health Behavior Change) to integrate Week 1 of the month-long National Nutrition Month campaign.

The theme for Week 1 is “Eat with the environment in mind.” According to the academy’s campaign, this means enjoying more plant-based meals and snacks, purchasing foods with minimal packaging, buying foods in season and shopping locally, and finally, starting a container or backyard garden to grow food at home.

Tying National Nutrition Month to Class-Based Instruction

So, how do we tie this to teaching? I would start the discussion with some personal sharing such as How do you motivate yourself or others to adopt healthy habits? or How can you sustain the movement to better health awareness? Then transition into the goal setting using the concept of self-efficacy to transform beliefs into actions for Week 1 theme. Review the five steps below. Divide the session into groups. Let each group explore options and share back. As follows:

1. Goal identification – Identify and pick a simple single goal to start. Be realistic and reasonable. Pick goals that are attainable to get begin such as, “I will add one serving of a plant-based food to a meal or snack each day,” “I will change one non-plant-based food to a plant-based food each day,” and “I will explore a bulk food purchase store to reduce my packaging footprint.”
2. Goal importance and acceptance – Evaluate the importance of the goal on a scale of 1 to 10.  If the goal is rated as below six, then consider choosing a higher challenge. Questions to ask may include, “How will you do this?” “What makes it important to you?” and “What are the benefits of reaching the goal?”
3. Goal analysis and overcoming obstacles – Discuss how the goal may be seen within physical, cultural, social, and cognitive environments.  Questions to ask may include: “What support do you have for this goal from your family, friends?” “What, if anything, can you identify as a potential challenge?” “What confidence do you have in making the changes?”
4. Goal implementation – Create the environment to achieve success. Ask: “What has to be present to start the goal?” “How will time be created to make time to prepare lunch or walk?” and “Who can be ‘recruited’ to join/share the goal process (such as a friend or family)?”
5. Goal evaluation/recycle and growth – Provide positive feedback to the goal experience. Ask: “How did the expectation compare to the experience?” or “Should the goal be repeated from another week?” and, “If the first goal can be sustained, what is the next goal to identify?”

Foster a Dialogue and Let the Discussion Flow

Lead an interactive and engaging discussion with your students encouraging each group to share their discussion and ideas about each stage.  Where possible, have them provide real-world data and relevant examples.