The SWITCH ® Implementation Process on School Lunch Consumption Patterns and Plate Waste

Abstract

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): Social Ecological Theory indicates that context at the micro and macro level plays an important role in our food choices. Therefore, holistic and context-focused food education can help children develop critical thinking skills that lead to healthy food choices in everyday life. Comprehensive food education programs should attend to the importance of nutrition to maintain good health and the role that food plays in our culture, relationships, history, and environment. In order to encourage the implementation of holistic food education, Pilot Light, a Chicago-based non-profit that provides K-12 teachers with food education curriculum and professional development, sought to develop clear Food Education Standards that support such holistic food education. Objective: To convene a group of experts during the Pilot Light Summit to participate in the systematic development and refinement of Food Education Standards that guide the implementation of food education programs in schools. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention:The Pilot Light Food Education Summit convened 25 experts and community members across multiple disciplinary fields (including agriculture, culinary, education, nutrition, and public health) to develop and refine a consensus-based set of Food Education Standards and accompanying K-12 competencies that could be used to implement holistic food education in the classroom. Outcome Measures and Analysis: A set of Food Education Standards, which included a list of 149 competencies in food education, were analyzed and categorized using thematic analysis. Results: Thirty-one themes were derived from the original list of competencies; the most prevalent themes endorsed by Summit participants were food choice, health, food production, food access, and culture. Seven Food Education Standards were developed that encompassed all 31 themes. Conclusions and Implications: The Food Education Standards developed at the Pilot Light Summit provide clear, accessible guidance for educators interested in incorporating holistic food education in the classroom. Pilot Light will incorporate Food Education Standards into its existing programming and encourage further dissemination. Funding: Pilot Light.

Evaluation of a Large-Scale School Wellness Intervention Through the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR): Implications for Dissemination and Sustainability

“…The process is aimed at helping schools to meet mandates such as the USDA final rule, which tasks schools with developing and evaluating school wellness programs and policies (13,14). Foundational research by our team documented the feasibility of training school leaders (15), the acceptability of educational modules for classroom, physical education, and lunchroom settings (16)(17)(18) and the validity of school readiness and wellness environment assessment tools (19,20). Subsequent studies evaluated alternative implementation strategies (21), the levels of engagement by 4-H leaders (county-level Extension officers who facilitate local-level implementation) assisting in programming (22) and the factors that influenced implementation and scaleup (13).…”

Evaluation of a Large-Scale School Wellness Intervention Through the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR): Implications for Dissemination and Sustainability

“…Previous research has examined: the effectiveness of SWITCH to elicit improvements in children's health behaviors through randomized and nonrandomized trials (12,15,16); the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of moving to an online format for training and implementation (14); acceptability and feasibility of educational modules in the classroom, physical education, and lunchroom settings (17)(18)(19); validity of school readiness and wellness environment assessment tools (20,21); and different implementation strategies to enhance overall implementation (10,11,13).…”