TITLE: PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL FOODSERVICE VS.ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL RELATED TO CHILDHOODOBESITY AND WELLNESS POLICY DEVELOPMENT

AUTHOR(S): E.T. McDonnell, MS, RD; C.K. Probart, PhD, RD;J.E. Weirich, MEd; C. Orlofsky, BA; Penn State University,Department of Nutritional Sciences, University Park, PA

LEARNING OUTCOME: To describe school employees’ perceptionsabout childhood obesity and school wellness policies and identifydifferences in perceptions between school foodservice personnel andschool administrators

TEXT: A 27-item survey, developed to assess school employees’perceptions about childhood obesity (CO) and wellness policies (WP),was distributed to 907 school employees attending a mandatorytraining on new federal regulations requiring all schools sponsoringschool meals programs to develop WP. Six hundred twenty-eightsurveys were returned (response rate � 69%). Through MANOVAanalyses, we found respondents more likely to view home andcommunity environments as contributing to CO instead of offeringsolutions (p � 0.01) and more likely to view schools as sources ofsolutions rather than contributors to CO (p � 0.01). Whilerespondents agreed that parents can impact school nutritionenvironments (8.3 � 1.9, 10 point scale with 10 being “stronglyagree”), agreement of importance of recruiting parents to join schoolteams to address CO was significantly lower (7.7 � 2.2) (p�0.001).Perceived importance of WP to address CO was rated 7.2 � 2.0 withsignificantly less reported confidence that WP would be enforced(6.2 � 2.2) (p � 0.01). When asked who would be most supportive ofreducing sales of “less nutritious” competitive foods, differences werefound between school foodservice (SFS) personnel and administratorswith administrators feeling that administrators and teachers wouldbe more supportive than SFS personnel felt they would be (p �0.001). Parents and students were rated least supportive by bothgroups. These results indicate the need for marketing effortsinvolving parents and students to create buy-in for WP andinvolvement and communication among school personnel indevelopment, implementation, and enforcement of WP.

FUNDING DISCLOSURE: Not applicable.

TITLE: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF ANUTRITION EDUCATION WEB SITE SPECIFICALLY FORMEN

AUTHOR(S): K.P. Sucher, ScD, RD; J.S. Jarvis, MS; D.L. Stone,PhD; Department of Nutrition and Food Science, San Jose StateUniversity, San Jose, CA

LEARNING OUTCOME: Participants will be able to anticipateinterest and develop content for a nutrition education web sitedesigned specifically for men.

TEXT: The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate anutrition education web site, www.mensdietsense.com, designedspecifically for men. Content was developed using well-respectednutrition web sites, journals, and texts. A review of popular websites, including automobile, sports, and beverage web sites, wasconducted to identify styles commonly used to market to a maleaudience. Web site feedback and demographic data was collectedfrom a convenience sample of adult males (n � 268) using a 23-question on-line survey. Most survey participants were somewhat(49%) or very (48%) interested in improving their diets. Healthbenefits (85%) and weight control (66%) were the primarymotivators. The majority of participants rated the overall qualityof the web site as good (59%) or excellent (31%) and most (69%)indicated they would recommend the site to a friend. The webpages of most interest were Healthy Weight (49%), Diet &Health (48%), Lose Weight (31%), Eating Out (30%), and GoodMeals (29%). The majority of respondents either somewhat orvery much liked themed nutrition pages relating to sports (69%),home improvement (66%), and auto racing (57%). The favorableevaluations of www.mensdietsense.com suggest that there is areceptive audience for a nutrition education web site designedspecifically for men, especially among men who are interested inimproving their diets.

FUNDING DISCLOSURE: None

TITLE: A FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR AWARD: A DIETETICS EDUCATORIN JAPAN

AUTHOR(S): W.A. Eastman, PhD, RD, LD, CDE, New Mexico StateUniversity, Las Cruces, NM; M. Mune, MD, PhD, Siebold Universityof Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan

LEARNING OUTCOME: To compare the dietetics educational systemand the practice of dietetics in Japan with the United States

TEXT: (Limit to 250 words maximum, no exceptions.) At the XIVInternational Congress of Dietetics, the American Dietetic Associationchallenged United States (US) dietetics professionals to increaseawareness of the practice of dietetics on a global scale. Dietetics educationand practice in Japan were investigated by a US dietetics educator as aFulbright Scholar in the fall 2005. Japan dietetics practice was studied atfour health care sites. Japan dietetics education was studied at a hostinstitution and four additional universities. The overall delivery of dieteticservice in Japan is the work of the Nutrition Support Team, commonlyreferred to as NST. In the US, the similar effort is the Nutrition CareProcess. Average hospital stays for patients in the US are two to threedays. Average stays for Japanese hospitalized patients are 14-21 days.Japanese dietetic students receive about 80 hours of hospital clinicalrotations between their third and fourth years at universities asundergraduates. US dietetic students receive a minimum of 900 hours ofsupervised practice rotations in post-baccalaureate dietetic internships orin coordinated programs prior to entry-level dietetic practice. In the US,all dietitians are Registered Dietitians (RDs) or RD eligible. In Japan,about 15% of dietitians are RDs, while 85% are non-registered, non-credentialed. Educational reforms being considered in Japan areincreasing clinical rotation hours and pilot testing dietetic internships.Strategies for increasing the number of RDs in Japanese dietetic practiceare also being considered. Continued exchanges between Japanese and USdietetics professionals can enrich the educational systems and dieteticspractice of both nations.

FUNDING DISCLOSURE: Funded by a grant from the Japan-UnitedStates Educational Commission as part of the Fulbright Scholar Programwith the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars

TITLE: EXPANDING HORIZONS: DIETITIANS WELL QUALIFIEDFOR A CAREER IN HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS

AUTHOR(S): C.A. Silzle, MS, MBA, RD, CSP; Children’s Healthcareof Atlanta, GA

LEARNING OUTCOME: To explore the growing field of healthcareinformatics and demonstrate how registered dietitians are wellqualified for these positions.

TEXT: Informatics is the integration of computer technology andinformation science. Its benefits in some areas of the healthprofessions are well recognized. Nurses have led the way indeveloping “Nursing Informatics” as a specialty of its own, blendingtheir nursing expertise with informatic science. While the dieteticscommunity begins the exploration of how to best develop “NutritionInformatics”, the opportunities for “Healthcare Informatics” existtoday and registered dietitians (RD) are well qualified to assumethese roles. Communication, time management, and teaching are buta few of the skills that RDs use in everyday practice. RDs areexperienced with juggling multiple priorities, evaluating outcomes,and promoting quality improvements. These same skills are used byhealthcare informatics professionals in building order sets forproviders based upon evidence-based practice. A dietitian who haspulled a history from an uncooperative client can easily perform aninformatics task of interviewing fellow employees regarding theircurrent workflow. A dietitian’s educational experience in developingnew materials as well as teaching will be utilized in trainingemployees on new software and equipment. In the hospital setting,RDs work with a variety of disciplines to achieve the best outcome forthe patient. An informatics professional promotes the same groupeffort with the goal of building an improved or new electronic medicalrecord system. Dietitians should consider informatics as a careerpath to be recognized as leaders within this developing new field.

FUNDING DISCLOSURE: none

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

POSTER SESSION: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS/NUTRITION ASSESSMENT/MEDICAL NUTRITION THERAPY

Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION / A-17