Page 207 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

class. Nutrition professionals should be proactive in recognizing nutrition misinformation and fads with this
group by providing interesting and accurate education materials and programs.27

Counseling Strategies

Cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention strategies should target the affective domain, or feelings and
attitudes, and not just give information to increase knowledge. Adolescent attitudes and patterns related to
food choices and physical activity should be explored, since they may persist into adulthood.

Nutrition professionals and adolescents may engage in either one-on-one counseling or group counseling
sessions. In one-on-one counseling, personal decisions related to self-care can be explored privately between
the counselor and the adolescent. Group efforts can use the power of peer support to discuss and share how
adolescents can handle challenging food situations when among peers.

Counseling adolescents that are also pregnant requires enhanced focus. These pregnancies are at greater risk
than adult pregnancies because many teenage girls have poor nutritional intakes and/or have not yet
completed their growth spurt. Pregnant teens are at a greater risk of having premature or low-birth-weight
babies and developing concurrent health conditions such as anemia and hypertensive disorders. They may be
reluctant to change their food patterns compared with their peers. Pregnant teens require significant caloric
intake in order to support the growth and development of the fetus, as well as to support their own personal
growth needs.5

Collecting information on dietary patterns of adolescents can be challenging. The use of digital
photography to aid in dietary assessment or to record food intake prospectively using an adolescent’s
smartphone if available may add validity and interest to the process.28 Because food is so closely linked with
what the adolescent is doing, meal patterns should be assessed with an activity time line to be most effective.
In this way, the counselor can understand what is triggering the eating pattern and how to integrate
recommendations within that environment. Adolescent snacking patterns are often connected with social
media use and traditional television viewing. By understanding the setting, positive information on alternate
food choices can be presented, rather than assuming an adolescent would avoid the environment or choose not
to eat.15

Another effective counseling approach is to address the food environment directly. School, home, and
popular food service settings can be encouraged to present a wider array of interesting healthy foods in
general. Healthier foods can be priced more attractively. Individual refined-grain products can also be
substituted with higher fiber whole-grain alternatives.

CASE ANALYSIS 3

What specific education and counseling strategies would you consider using when working with Charles?

Family Counseling

Family is the most prominent influence on children’s eating patterns from preschool through adolescence.
Nutrition professionals must include parents, family members, or guardians in nutrition counseling sessions.

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