Page 201 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

These new lifestyle choices can affect later development and behaviors, particularly body weight and image
foundations. It is essential that children be provided with guidance and advice to assist them in establishing
healthy dietary and exercise habits. Partnerships of children, schools, and families can promote health and
well-being and influence these necessary lifetime food habits.

During this stage of the life span, nutrition education seeks to provide children with the knowledge needed
to select healthy foods. Age-specific guidelines are available to assist nutrition professionals to plan education
content. Nutrition counselors seek to facilitate the development of children’s analytical and evaluative skills so
that they may be better able to understand food and nutrition information. Because risk factors for some
chronic diseases begin in youth, behavioral-focused nutrition education is appropriate. This type of education
encompasses cognitive learning, in which children learn how to select a healthful diet; affective teaching, in
which children and counselors address motivation for dietary change; and behavioral components, such as
selecting new food choices and lifestyle behaviors. Studies show that these types of interventions, which focus
on specific behavior changes, result in more effective changes than a general nutrition education
approach.13,15,18

Influences on Eating Habits

During the school years, family, culture, and the body’s physical composition greatly influence what children
eat. What children eat is also affected by food insecurity and poverty status.15,18 Therefore, nutrition
professionals need to assess the child’s social, physical, and psychological environment as well as his or her
overall health when counseling children and their caregivers on the types of dietary changes that they should
make to ensure a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Since a 6-year-old is very different from a 9-year-
old, an evaluation of the developmental stage of the child according to theories of child psychology and of the
child’s cognitive level must also be done before a healthcare professional can plan any nutrition intervention.
In addition, a nutrition counselor should be familiar with scientific studies that specifically focus on the
behaviors within this age cohort. For example, studies have shown that involvement in an active gardening
program helped influence vegetable consumption in young children.19 Dietary modeling, or replacement of
familiar low-nutrient-density food choices with higher-nutrient-dense options, has been shown to be effective
in increasing nutrient density.13,15 This concept can be further reinforced by involving the child in the process
of helping to prepare bran muffins for breakfast to share with the family rather than choosing a packaged
donut. Caregivers with higher nutrition knowledge, particularly with food labeling, have also been shown to
be able to make better choices more readily for their children.

The dietary behaviors of many school-age children, like those of preschool-age children, are often formed
away from the home, particularly in school or at after-school programs. The position of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics is to support the nutrition integrity of the entire school environment, not just formal
feeding lunch opportunities.20 Nutrition professionals should collaborate with members of the school faculty,
school lunch program, athletic department, and local community so that together they can teach children
about nutrition and assess children’s dietary trends. It is also important to address the content of home-packed
meals brought to school. Children and caregivers need guidelines such as the ChooseMyPlate.2 Counselors
can also assist teachers to incorporate nutrition principles into academic coursework, such as using portion
sizes and weights in math classes.

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