Nia Dotson
HLTH 698-A
Project Paper Problem and SMART Objective Outline
By the end of the practicum, the student will present a 5 minute educational presentation on
childhood nutrition that increases information and awareness around the importance of healthy of
packed lunches and how to implement effective programming surrounding this topic, as
measured by 75% of participants who reviewed the presentation being able to identify personal
barriers to packing healthy lunches and an understanding of how to create better behaviors on a
post presentation survey.
By the end of the practicum, there will be an increase in parental knowledge on potential barriers
surrounding healthy lunch packing, as measured by 75% of parents who participate in the
program reporting a knowledge of their own personal barriers and at least a 50% confidence in
how to work to overcome them
By the end of the practicum, there will be an increase in knowledge surrounding packing healthy
school lunches as measured by pre and post test, wherein there will be at least a 50% increase in
parents knowledge surrounding packing healthy options for school lunches
I. Introduction
A. Universal free lunch is not provided for all which can be costly to parents. Packed
lunches are often less nutritious than school provided lunches. Unhealthy dietary
choices can affect the overall health and wellbeing of school children both in the
present and in the future
a. It was found that students who had universal free lunch available
were more likely (1.2%) to be a healthy weight and 0.7% less
likely to be obese.1
b. Results showed that most parent packed lunches failed to provide
the recommended amounts of nutrients, with only 16.2% of
lunches meeting national requirements.2
c. Results showed that as compared to water, sugar-sweetened
beverages were present in more of the lunches by 17% and were
consumed at a higher rate (92% consumption of water, 94.6%
consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages).3
B. Address potential barriers to packing healthy lunches for children
a. The population for this impact would be the parents and parental
guardians of the students
i. The setting for this would be in the school and at home.
ii. Parameters for this impact would be that a pre and post
survey would be provided to parents before and after
program implementation. Survey questions will be a simple
yes or no answer to known barriers research has presented
to understand the specific barriers that affect the specific
population at hand. Survey questions will also allow
parents and guardians to provide specific details on
personal perceived barriers to gather more information.
iii. Food photography methods will be utilized to assist
parents and guardians to provide an understanding of the
ratio of food provided. Overall, food photography showed
to be an effective and low-burden method to capture
information on home-packed lunches through a clear and
visual lens.2
C. Bring attention to the lack of awareness of how impactful a healthy meals can be
in the short and long term
a. The population for this impact would be the parents and parental
guardians of the students
i. The setting for this would be in the school and at home.
ii. Parameters for this impact would be accomplished
through educational materials and presentations sent out to
the parents/parental guardians. Data found in research
shows that healthy choices can have an impact on the rest
of a child’s life and it is important that parents can
understand the scope and severity of this topic, while also
providing them a way to take action in a way that is
feasible and addresses the aforementioned barriers.
iii. Surveys will be provided to gather a qualitative and
quantitative understanding of knowledge before and after
the intervention.
D. Increase knowledge surrounding packing healthy school lunches
a. The population for this impact would be the parents and parental
guardians of the students
i. The setting for this would be in the school and at home.
ii. Parameters for this impact would be utilizing food
photography, educational materials and media to increase
knowledge of healthy packed lunches. Surveys will be
provided to gather a qualitative and quantitative
understanding of knowledge before and after the
intervention.
iii. Food photography implementation will assist in this
impact as well as provide visual aids to parents and
guardians to increase knowledge of what a healthy packed
lunch can look like based on various demographics and
barriers found.
Citations
1. Cohen J, Hecht A, McLoughlin G, et al. Universal school meals and associations with
student participation, attendance, academic performance, diet quality, food security, and
body mass index: a systematic review. Nutrients. 2021;13(3):911. doi:
10.3390/nu13030911
2. Elliot S, McCloskey M, Johnson S, et al. Food photography as a tool to assess type,
quantity, and quality of foods in parent-packed lunches for preschoolers. Journal of
Nutrition Education and Behavior. 2021; 53(2):164-173. Doi:
10.1016/j.jneb.2020.10.007
3. Lindquist K, Mann G, Farris A, et al. Parent perspectives of packing school lunches.
Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. 2023; 18(5): 713-730. doi:
10.1080/19320248.2021.1994081
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