Part of the SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions Toolkit*
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.
- Evaluated
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.
*SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States is a compilation of interventions. The toolkit was developed by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, The Association of SNAP-Ed Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Training and Research Translation (Center TRT), and the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR), a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the USDA. It is designated and updated to help state SNAP-Ed administrative and implementing agencies identify evidence-based obesity prevention programs and policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) strategies and interventions to include in their SNAP-Ed plans.