10 Tips for Adults (10 Tips) is a multi-level direct education intervention designed to reinforce messages related to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, increasing physical activity, consuming more water, and providing SNAP eligible adults with the skills to purchase healthy foods on a budget. The curriculum can be used in a variety of community-based settings frequented by SNAP eligible adults that complement and reinforce PSE interventions such as community gardens, healthy retail, worksite wellness, and healthcare clinical community linkages. The curriculum was designed to be implemented by qualified, professional Nutrition Educators and includes two distinct, but complementary, four-session series: Series A: Choosing MyPlate and Series B: Eating Better on a Budget. 10 Tips works to increase participants' perceptions of the importance of a healthy diet and decrease their perceived barriers to shopping, cooking, and eating healthy on a budget. Each session includes a recipe demonstration and tasting to introduce participants to new healthy foods and simple cooking techniques to reduce perceived barriers to preparing healthy foods.
Intervention Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time
SNAP-Ed Strategies: Direct Education, PSE Change
10 Tips targets SNAP-Ed eligible adults in settings where adults gather, including public housing sites, food pantries, adult education, and job training sites. Nutrition Educators recruit participants by working with partners at SNAP-Ed eligible sites. The IA provides Nutrition Educators guidance on identifying and approaching new community partners. In FY 19, 10 Tips reached a total of 1,574 SNAP-Ed eligible adults across 120 unique sites; the most common settings were public housing (comprising 32% of all sites), adult education/job training/TANF/veteran service sites (13%), community and recreation centers (9%), and faith-based centers (8%).
Settings: Community-wide, Healthcare
Age/Population Group: Parents/Caregivers, Adults, Older Adults
Race: All
Ethnicity: All
10 Tips includes Series A (four lessons), which focuses on teaching participants the importance of and strategies to increase their consumption of each component of MyPlate, and Series B (four lessons), which focuses on teaching participants budget savvy shopping skills to eat healthy on a budget. Series A and B each have four overarching core messages, one related to each lesson. Each 10 Tips lesson includes a stated goal, objectives, materials, core and key messages, a welcome activity and discussion, a recipe demonstration, and a closing discussion. Educators reinforce key messages, specific to each lesson, in the introduction and closing discussions. The curriculum outlines discussion topics and open-ended questions to engage and help participants apply skills to their lives. Educators discuss preparation techniques and cost per serving during recipe demonstrations. Lessons are designed to last 60 minutes but can be reduced to 30-45 minutes.
- Introduction to the 10 Tips for Adults Curriculum Training Video (11:38 minutes)
- 10 Tips for Adults Entire Curriculum: Instructor guide, lesson plans, supply lists, suggested recipes
- 10 Tips Recipes
- 10 Tips Handouts and Additional Recipes
- 10 Tips Lesson Modification Documents:
- Resource Guide for Shortened Lessons: Outlines required and optional components to ensure fidelity
- Maine SNAP-Ed Curriculum Modification Guidance
- 10 Tips In-class Activities
- 10 Tips Post-Survey
After the last class, 10 Tips participants complete a retrospective pre/post survey about targeted behaviors and their satisfaction with the series. In 2019, nearly all (97%) 10 Tips participants reported that they "agree" or "strongly agree" with two measures related to participant satisfaction.
Nutrition educators reported that delivering 10 Tips at SNAP-Ed eligible sites has helped them develop strong community partnerships which have opened the door to additional opportunities to implement direct nutrition education and supporting PSE strategies. However, in 2017, more than half (56%) of surveyed educators reported that recruiting participants and maintaining attendance throughout the series were the main barriers. To increase participant engagement, a promising practice used by Nutrition Educators is to introduce more hands-on learning opportunities, such as allowing the class to prepare the recipe demonstration together to improve cooking skills.
10 Tips has been extensively evaluated by an external evaluator. An impact evaluation assessed participants' healthy eating, physical activity, and budget savvy shopping behaviors pre- and post-intervention, and six to eight weeks later (follow-up) and compared outcomes to a comparison group. Adjusted mean frequencies improved significantly among 10 Tips participants from baseline to follow-up for consumption of fruits, vegetables, lean meat/proteins, whole grains, and frequency that all five food groups were consumed daily. Adjusted mean confidence also improved among participants' ability to choose low-sodium options, check nutrition facts labels, compare unit prices, prepare shopping lists, plan meals ahead of time, and likeliness of using MyPlate. Mean frequencies reported by 10 Tips participants were significantly higher than the comparison group at follow-up for all measures. Series A and B participant outcomes were analyzed independently.
Evidence Base: Practice-tested
Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.
Readiness and Capacity - Short Term (ST) | Changes - Medium Term (MT) | Effectiveness and Maintenance - Long Term (LT) | Population Results (R) | |
Individual | MT1, MT2, MT3 | |||
Environmental Settings | ||||
Sectors of Influence |
- MT1: Healthy Eating Behaviors:
- Adjusted mean frequency of consumption significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention among 10 Tips participants for lean meats and proteins (MT1a; Series A (p=.003) and Series B (p<.001)), fruits (MT1c; p<.001 for both Series), vegetables (MT1d; p<.001 for both Series), water (MT1g; p<.001 for both Series), low or fat-free dairy (MT1i; p<.001 for both Series), and whole grains (MT1j; p<.001 for both Series). Significant improvements for all behaviors were maintained 6-8 weeks later (p<.05 for both Series).
- Adjusted mean likelihood that participants use MyPlate (MT1f) when planning and preparing meals significantly increased from baseline to post intervention (p<.001 for both Series). Significant improvements were maintained 6- 8 weeks later (p<.001 for both Series).
- Adjusted mean frequency of consumption significantly decreased from baseline to post-intervention among 10 Tips participants for sugar-sweetened beverages (MT1h; Series A (p=.015) and Series B (p<.001) and sweets (MT1k, p<.001 for both Series)). Changes in sugar-sweetened beverages were not maintained 6-8 weeks later. For sweets, significant decreases were maintained by Series B participants (p=.001) but not by Series A participants.
- MT2: Food Resource Management Behaviors
- Adjusted mean frequency significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention among 10 Tips participants for use the 'Nutrition Facts' label (MT2b; p<.001 for both Series), choose low-sodium options (MT2e3; p<.001 for both Series), make a shopping list (MT2j; p<.001 for both Series), compare unit prices (MT2l; p<.001 for both Series), and cook healthy foods on a budget (MT2m; p<.001 for both Series). Significant improvements were maintained 6-8 weeks later (p<.01 for both Series).
- MT3: Physical Activity & Reduced Sedentary Behavior
- Adjusted mean frequency that 10 Tips participants engaged in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention (MT3b; p<.001 for both Series). Significant improvement was maintained 6-8 weeks later (p<.001 for both Series).
For ongoing program evaluation, participants are given a retrospective pre/post survey at the completion of the series. Materials include:
- Pre/post surveys
- Interview guides for Nutrition Educators, program administrators, and partners
Healthy Beverage Choices for Healthy Lifestyles:
https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/success-stories/healthy-beverage-choices-healthy-lifestyles
Website: The Maine SNAP-Ed's 10 Tips for Adults curriculum page (https://www.mainesnap-ed.org/maine-snap-ed/10-tips-for-adults-curriculum/) includes simple tips from Maine SNAP-Ed that can help you feed your family healthy foods and save money.
Contact Person(s):
Lori A. Kaley, MS, RDN, LD, MSB
Program Manager, University of New England
Phone: 207-221-4551
Email: lkaley@une.edu
*Updated as of August 23, 2023