Development of a Nutrition Education Curriculum for Teachers that includes Lessons and Activities for Children Grades Pre-kindergarten through Seven

Background: Rates of childhood obesity have increased dramatically from only one generation ago. Co-morbidities associated with obesity have also risen in children. One of the factors that lead to obesity is poor nutrition. After-school and daycare programs have been cited as places were nutrition education can be conducted to teach children the importance of a healthful diet.Objectives: Diversified Community Services (DCS) wanted to create a nutrition curriculum that could be used by its childcare staff to teach children the importance of eating healthfully. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to create an age appropriate curriculum. The second objective was to create a survey to measure community members’ perceptions of the availability of fruits and vegetables at a local corner store.Methods: A literature review was used to identify evidence based information on curriculum development. Cognitive testing was conducted to test evaluation materials for the curriculum. A literature review was also conducted to design the community needs assessment survey.Results: Based on formative and evidence based information, a nutrition curriculum was developed. Pre-/post-tests were created to measure the effectiveness of the curriculum. A community needs assessment survey was developed to be used by DCS in the near future to measure fresh produce availability.Conclusion: The development of the curriculum will be a sustainable way for DCS to provide nutrition education to children under their supervision. The community needs assessment survey can be utilized to gauge the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood corner store.M.P.H., Public Health -- Drexel University, 201