Hartman, Terryl (author), Kushi, Lawrence (author), McCarthy, Pam (author), Sardo, Christine (author), and University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 97 Document Number: C07893
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection, Ham, Mimeographed, 1994. 1 p. Presented at the Society for Nutrition Education, Portland, OR, July 16-20, 1994., Partnerships between nutrition educators and industry are an emerging trend in nutrition education. In 1991, the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) collaborated with McDonald's and CBS to develop 12 Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for children aged 4-10 years. These 55-second nutrition messages, titled "What's On Your Plate," are broadcast during prime viewing time on Saturday morning. While concerns have been expressed about this collaboration, it is not known whither the attitudes and perceptions differ between nutrition professionals and parents of young children regarding the partnership or the resulting program. To examine these views, we conducted six focus groups. Three were with parents of children aged 4-10 tears and three were with Registered Dietitians; all were residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN area. After viewing segments of the PSAs, we asked participants about their perceptions of the program, sponsors, and nutrition messages. We also asked about their concerns related to industry sponsorship of nutrition messages and collaboration of SNE with an industry partner. Nutrition educators considering partnerships with industry will benefit by being aware of the differences and similarities of the perceptions and attitudes regarding partnerships of these two groups. These focus group results will be used to direct the development of a questionnaire to quantitatively evaluate differences in perceptions between Registered Dietitians and parents regarding industry sponsored nutrition education.
