Scheduled for Research Coordinating Board Poster Session I, Wednesday, March 31, 2004, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Session


Utilizing a Computerized Diet Analysis Program with a College Population

Beth Hensleigh1, J. Don Chaney2, Darwin Dennison3 and James Eddy2, (1)Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, (2)The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, (3)University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC

The purpose of this intervention was to increase knowledge and facilitate dietary change among college students. The intervention utilized Pyramid Challenge®, a computerized nutrition and dietary analysis program. The three-week program was implemented with university students as part of their personal health course. Students were required to log-in and record their personal diets over a 20-day period. This allowed students to analyze their dietary intake and to closely examine how their diet correlated with the nutritional food pyramid. Students were required to write a two-paragraph statement of how the data from the pyramid challenge program enabled them to modify their diet and eating behavior. Also, students were responsible for providing a print-out of their pyramid challenge results for review by the instructor. Pre- and Posttest assessment measures for Pyramid Challenge® were given during regularly scheduled class periods to assess if the software package had an impact on the students’ knowledge of healthy dietary practices. This poster will allow the participants to visualize how the Pyramid Challenge® software can be incorporated into a classroom- learning environment.

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