LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Morley, Catherine

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Nutrition

Nutrition & Dietetics

Recent federal and Nova Scotia (NS) reports on unsatisfactory adolescent health indicate poor nutrition as one contributing factor. Nutrition courses are open credits in NS public schools (i.e., completion of a nutrition course is not mandatory for students to graduate); therefore, not all students receive nutrition education. The incorporation of effective online-accessible nutrition education videos (NEV) may help increase students’ knowledge and skill acquisition and could also serve to make accurate nutrition information available to an entire student body (i.e., including students not enrolled in a nutrition course). The purpose of this thesis was to identify adolescents’ needs and preferences for video-based nutrition education, to develop a video based on these needs and preferences and the NS Family Studies curricula while incorporating what is known about creating educational videos that effectively increase knowledge and skill acquisition, and to assess the video based on participant-identified needs and preferences. The study was conducted in three-phases: 1) interviews with adolescent participants (n=8) to learn about their needs and preferences for video; 2) making a NEV based on Phase 1 findings and the NS Family Studies curricula; and 3) evaluation of the NEV relative to the expressed needs and preferences from Phase 1. Thematic analysis resulted in nine topics with corresponding characteristics and five foundational video elements that participants identified in NEV videos deemed acceptable for use inside and outside the classroom. The characteristics of an effective and accepted NEV highlighted in this study can help inform the development and selection of nutrition education videos and future research on this topic.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:982