THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

POSTER SESSION: NUTRITION EDUCATION/PUBLIC RELATIONSPREFERENCE FOR AND INTAKE OF CALCIUM-CONTAINING FOODS BYCHINESE STUDENTS ATTENDING A SUBURBAN AMERICAN COLLEGE.Y. H. Tsai, MS; F. C. Gizis, PhD, RD; B. J. Murphy, EdD,RD; A. B. Fornari, MS, RD., Health Science Department,C. W. Post Campus/ LIU, Brookville, N.Y.

Preference for and consumption of calcium-containingfoods were evaluated for Chinese students from Taiwanattending a suburban American College. Food preferencewas measured as a response to a five-point facial hedonicscale with an additional "don't know" category. Using afood frequency questionnaire, estimates were made oftheir calcium contributions to the diets of the students.

Preferences were highest for Chinese calcium-contain-ing foods while (with the exception of highly preferredice cream) milk products were less preferred. Cheese hadthe lowest preference rating of all foods.

Students consumed an average of 568mg of calcium intheir diets. Many foods contributed small amounts ofcalcium. Although less preferred, fluid milk contributed30% of the calcium, and hard cheese contributed 13%.Yogurt and ice cream each contributed from 5 to 6% ofdietary calcium.

Green vegetables, including pai-tsai, accounted for12% of dietary calcium, 3 and 5% came from 2 types oftofu, and 2% from each of five kinds of fish. Grainproducts accounted for 17% of dietary calcium.

Preference alone did not account for food intake.Availability of highly preferred traditional Chinesefoods may have been curtailed in this campus and communitysetting. Dairy products, although not traditional, wereincluded in small amounts in the diets of these studentsand contributed significant amounts of calcium.

The total calcium intake, as estimated in this study,

suggests that increased calcium consumption should beencouraged for these students.

GRASSROOTS POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT AND ATTITUDES IN NEWJERSEY. M.H. Hager, PhD, RD, and M.W. Luby, MS, RD.Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of St.Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ.

Grassroots involvement by dietitians is critical inorder to influence public policy successfully at boththe federal and state levels. The purpose of this studywas to determine the extent to which dietetic profes-sionals in New Jersey participate in the politicalprocess. Characteristics of the politically-involveddietetic professional as well as general attitudestoward public policy issues affecting the professionwere also explored.

A survey questionnaire was sent to 329 randomlyselected members of the New Jersey Dietetic Association.A 42% return rate was obtained. Ninety-three percent(93%) of the respondents were registered to vote: 98% ofwhom voted in the last national election and 85% in thelast state election. Political activity was defined bytwo or more occasions in contacting politicians or inmaking financial contributions to influence publicpolicy related to the dietetics profession or to otherissues. By this definition, 63% of the respondents wereclassified as being politically active. There were nostatistically significant differences between active andnon-active respondents either by age or by educationallevel. Approximately 45% of all respondents had eithercontacted politicians or had made financial contribu-tions to influence public policy.

Licensure and legally-mandated reimbursement fornutrition services were considered to be critical forthe survival of the profession. However, while most(60%) felt that political involvement could make adifference in the future of the profession, 74% indicat-ed that they did not have enough time to become activelyinvolved. Of the issues facing the nation today, mostranked the economy as the most important and health carereform as the second most important.

This study concluded that dietitians are willing toparticipate in public policy activities, but that timeis a critical resource. These data will be helpful fordesigning and implementing grassroots campaigns.

CHARACTERISTICS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD MANDATORY LICENSURE OFDIETITIANS AMONG RESPONDENTS TO A NORTHWEST TRI-STATE SURVEY.J.A. Jenks, N.E. Mayerle, K.J. Schmidt, and D.W. Hagan, PhD,RD, LD, Dietetic Internship Program, Oregon Health SciencesUniversity (OHSU) and Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC),Portland, OR

The objective of this study was to compare attitudes andcharacteristics towards licensure among Oregon DieteticAssociation (ODA), Idaho Dietetic Association (IDA), andMontana Dietetic Association (MDA) members. A confidentialmail-return survey was sent to all members of ODA (voluntarylicensure), IDA (no licensure), and MDA (mandatorylicensure). Follow up was by a reminder letter. Descriptiveanalysis determined the frequency of response from the threestates. Chi-square analysis determined differences amongrespondents from the states. Response was 70% IDA, 60% ODA,58% MDA. The majority, 75.5%, of all respondents indicatedpositive reasons for licensure outweighed the negativereasons. Although IDA and MDA members cited public health andsafety as their primary reason for licensure and ODA rankedthird party reimbursement first, 93% overall respondedfavorably to public health and safety as an important reasonfor state licensure. The fact that licensure would not assurethe elimination of quackery was the primary reason given by67% of all respondents for not supporting state licensure.The oldest (65+ years) and youngest (18-29) demonstratedstatistically significant greater support (p=O.01) forlicensure than 34-64 year olds. The most negative viewstoward licensure were held by respondents aged 40-49 years.Overall support for licensure was present among Northweststates, but reasons of support or non support varied. Thisinformation can be used by state professional organizations todevelop educational programs to better inform members on howlicensure will affect the practice of dietetics.

NUTRITION EDUCATION MATERIALS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. V.A.Hammarlund, PhD, RD and S.C. Wilkins, BS, Department ofHuman Nutrition & Hospitality Management, The Universityof Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Healthcare professionals understand the importanceof establishing healthy lifestyle habits during earlychildhood. Nutrition education materials that identifymethods to improve the food habits of young children areavailable. However, most available materials are primar-ily written for parents and not for children. Materialsalso focus on foods to incorporate in the daily mealplans of children and not during special occasions.Special occasions were defined as car vacations, birthdayparties, holidays, dining-out and after-exercise snacks.Thus, nutrition education materials chat are specificallydesigned for young children and that identify appropriatefood choices and/or activities during special occasionsneed to be developed. A junior level class in clinicaldietetics was assigned a project to address these needs.Students were instructed to prepare reports that included1) the importance of developing nutrition education ma-terials for young children, 2) a justification of thefoods and activities recommended for the selected specialoccasions, and 3) a sample of the printed materials.Students were further instructed to minimize the cost of-

the recommendations and to maximize child participation.Creative and innovative materials were developed andshared with classmates. The materials are being compiledinto a form for publication that will be made availableto interested healthcare professionals.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION / A-85