Nibbling Away at Nutrition Nonsense

Will eating sugar make children hyperactive? Are vitamins found in foods different from vitamins found in pills? Does taking fish oil supplements lower blood cholesterol levels?

Consumers spend more than $10 billion annually on worthless nutrition advice-books, magazines, and dietary supplements. The winner is the salesperson; the loser is the person who fails to eat an adequate diet or get proper medical attention while losing hard earned dollars in pursuit of better health. It has been estimated that 44% of America's total medical bill can be traced to improper nutrition, most because of misinformation.

Questions and statistics such as these indicated a need to address the nutrition misinformation issue. "Nibbling Away at Nutrition Nonsense," a multimedia program, was developed to dispel current nutrition myths and help evaluate sources of nutrition information and determine fact from fallacy.

The program was originally developed seven years ago and presented to a variety of community groups and Extension Homemaker Clubs in a 16-county district with more than 580 participants. With continued interest, and the Cooperative Extension System National Initiatives of Improving Nutrition, Diet and Health, as well as Improving Family & Economic Well- Being, the program was revised, expanded, and updated in 1988 with the help of the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service Extension specialist in human nutrition and food management.

The program kit includes pre-/post-tests, 30 color slides, an audio cassette tape and printed script, supplemental information for teachers, news releases, publicity flier, and a teacher evaluation. It's ideal to use with civic and church groups, youth audiences, schools, EFNEP, and Extension Homemakers.

The program format involves participants at the beginning as they complete a 28-question true/false pre-test. The slides are then shown to present correct quiz answers as participants follow along. Supplemental information for each question is provided for teachers who want to discuss the question in more detail. The program can be presented in 30-90 minutes.

Issues addressed in "Nibbling Away at Nutrition Nonsense" include facts about fats and cholesterol in the diet, information on how sodium is related to hypertension, the role additives play in our food supply, how to recognize fraudulent advertising practices, information about nutrition for athletes, and facts about successful weight-loss programs. The role advertising and media help play in influencing consumers is also presented.

Written evaluations plus participant observations have been used to assess the program's impact. As a result of "Nibbling Away at Nutrition Nonsense," participants changed their ideas about what they previously believed, improved their ability to evaluate nutrition information in popular publications, and increased their awareness of the facts about current nutrition claims. Educators reported that the program was easy to use, thorough, and professionally prepared.