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Page 1: Barriers to Physical Activity among Low Income Adolescents

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S62 Poster Abstracts Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior � Volume 45, Number 4S, 2013

descriptive statistics with means and standard deviations. Teachers’ attitudes towards nutrition education, nutri-tion courses in schools and the school food environ-ment, were analyzed by gender using the independentt test.Results: Teachers strongly agreed that classroom nutri-tion education is very important, and should be practi-cal; that nutrition taught as a separate subject wasmore likely to be effective, and government agencies,universities, and teachers should collaborate to provideit. They agreed that the school food environment is im-portant for learning and that sales in the school vicinityshould be monitored. Women teachers judged all atti-tude statements more positively than men, many signif-icantly so.Conclusions and Implications: Classroom teachershave very positive attitudes towards practical, behaviorallyfocused nutrition education in the classroom and improv-ing the school food environment. Providing teachers withthe necessary curricula and skills and having them collab-orate with relevant agencies and organizations may con-tribute to their effectiveness.Funding: None.

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P155 Barriers to Physical Activity among LowIncome AdolescentsSheetal Bhatia, MS, MPH, RD, [email protected],Rutgers University, 11 Suydam Street, 2nd Floor,New Brunswick, NJ 08901; S. Mathur, MS, MEd, RD;A. Adler, MS, RD; K. Silverman, BS; D. Palmer, PhD

Objective: An exploratory study of Supplement NutritionAssistance Program (SNAP)-eligible high school students(n¼1302) was conducted to identify barriers that stop ado-lescents from being physically active.Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: It is well docu-mented that obesity rates are increasing and that adoles-cents tend to become less active as they age.Study Design, Setting, Participants, andIntervention: Surveys were self-administered by stu-dents under the supervision of the research team atSNAP-eligible sites in five New Jersey counties. Sixrounds of cognitive testing for respondents’ under-standing of question intent and the meaning of termsused in the tool, and corresponding tool revisions asneeded, ensured the quality and consistency of surveyresponses.Outcome,Measures and Analysis: The survey assessedadolescent’s predisposition towards 110 potential barriersusing a 5-point Likert scale ranging from ‘‘it never stopsme from being physically active’’ to ‘‘it always stops mefrom being physically active’’. Preliminary statistical anal-ysis included univariate frequency distribution and mea-sures of central tendency.Results: The most frequently cited obstacles to beingphysically active were: doing something that is more

fun (m¼2.50 � 1.37); feeling lazy (m¼2.48 � 1.4); spend-ing time with friends and family (m¼2.45 � 1.34); notfeeling like exercising (m¼2.45 � 1.34); talking on thephone/online or texting (m¼2.29 � 1.34); snow outside(m¼2.29 � 1.45); rain outside (m¼2.24 � 1.43); lackingenergy (m¼2.23 � 1.19); and feeling tired (m¼2.22 �1.24).Conclusions and Implications: These barriers thatkeep adolescents from being more physically activeneed to be considered in the design of effective physicalactivity programs for SNAP-eligible high school stu-dents.Funding: None.

P156 Development of Textbook for ImprovingPreference of Korean Traditional Foods ofSchoolchildrenKyunghea Lee, PhD, [email protected], ChangwonNational University, Sarim-dongUichang-gu, Changwon,Gyeongnam Korea; T. Woo, PhD

Objective: This study was conducted to gather informa-tion to be used in the development of a textbook for4th-6th grade school children that would improve en-courage increased consumption of Korean traditionalfoods.Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: Korean tradi-tional foods are recognized as healthy, but most childrentend to avoid eating them. It is important to increasechildren's preferences for these foods since they aremore nutrient dense than ‘‘Western foods’’ imported toKorea.Study Design, Setting, Participants, andIntervention: A questionnaire was developed to deter-mine cognition, stage of change, degree of preferenceand interest along with a food neophobia scale and ques-tions regarding interest in Korean traditional foods. Surveyparticipants(n¼101) were selected from three elementaryschools in Changwon.Outcome, Measures and Analysis: Data was analyzedwith descriptive statistics and c2-test.Results: Seventy-eight percent of children replied that Ko-rea traditional foods are a heritage from their ancestors.40% of children were in preparation stage. The degree ofpreference foods was 3.99�0.98(maximum score ‘5’points), the degree of interest was 3.67�0.87(maximumscore ‘5’ points) on Korea traditional foods. FNS was2.89�0.59(The highest scale (5points) means ‘the lowerfood neophobia’). The most interesting content was‘‘how to cook.’’ There were no significant differences be-tween the sexes.Conclusions and Implications: We determined edu-cation strategies applicable to textbook developmentbased on this study. This study was showed that mostof children had a positive attitude towards Korean

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