WIP 59 - Team Kid Power (KiPOW) TX- Assessing Basic Nutritional Knowledge Before and After KiPOW Curriculum Intervention

Publication Number: WIP 59.7448

Avery Haugen, Children's Health, Dallas, TX, United States; Lynette Gonzalez, Children's Health, Dallas, TX, United States; Divya Nagarajan, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, United States; Kimberly Walter, Children's Health, Bedford, TX, United States; Libertad S. Gracia, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, United States; Isha Darbari, Children's Health, Dallas, TX, United States; Nancy R. Kelly, UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; Sarah E. Barlow, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, United States

Background: To promote obesity prevention, the KiPOW! (KidPOWER) program was developed in Washington, DC in 2012 as a partnership between inner-city school districts and a medical center. In 2016, UT Southwestern pediatric residency program partnered with a Dallas school and KiPOW! TX was founded. Residents provide nutrition education and model healthy eating and physical activity for 2nd grade students. The KiPOW! TX nutrition curriculum is based on the USDA’s “Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum” for grades 1-3. In the 2023-24 school year, second grade teachers provided feedback leading to curriculum revisions including bilingual content and interactive, age-appropriate activities. It is unknown if this revised curriculum improves 2nd graders’ nutrition knowledge.

Objective: This study will assess whether the revised KiPOW! TX curriculum improves 2nd grade students’ knowledge about MyPlate and healthy eating.

Design/Methods: After obtaining opt-in forms from parents, fifty 2nd grade students were enrolled in this study. Pre-intervention, students' knowledge was assessed about MyPlate and healthy eating using a modified version of the Fit Kids “r” Healthy Kids survey, validated questions for students grades 1-4 (Gower JR, et al, 2010). The survey contains 15 questions that assess students’ ability to distinguish healthy from unhealthy food; categorize foods into their correct group (dairy, protein, grain, fruit, vegetable); and understand health benefits of each group. Each question presents three answer choices. During the 2024-25 school year, pediatric residents will present the revised curriculum to 2nd graders over 6 sessions. Post-intervention, the same survey will be re-administered. Total correct survey answers will be calculated, and mean knowledge scores will be compared pre- to post-intervention using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Due to school IRB requirements, questionnaires are anonymous. Thus, analyses will be by class and for the entire grade. This study was approved by UTSW IRB after filing as a category 2–Minimal Risk (#042018-067) and Dallas ISD IRB (#18-0902).