Part of the SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions Toolkit.*
Food eTalk is direct education intervention designed to increase participant’s daily intake of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products; decrease daily intake of sodium; improve food resource management, food safety practices, and physical activity. The 6 interactive eLearning modules are self-paced and the mobile-nature of many Internet accessing devices (i.e., smartphones) encourages learning at the point-of-decision making, such as engaging in quick Food eTalk video-based lessons in a supermarket or restaurant. Additionally, the asynchronous “anytime, anyplace” lessons aim to mitigate traditional barriers to attending in-person classes, such as issues with transportation, variable work schedules, and child-care limitations. Food eTalk includes 6 interactive lessons, 6 accompanying cooking demonstration videos, and 4 “just in time” education videos with focus on meal preparation, food shopping, and food safety in the home.
This online, mobile-device friendly interactive nutrition education program is the first of its kind tailored for the needs of SNAP-Ed eligible individuals. The 6 eLearning modules are augmented by cooking videos and “just in time” videos which focus on point-of-decision making education, such as choosing healthful bread and milk in the supermarket. A short online tutorial as to how to access and navigate Food eTalk is available here at no charge.
*Users will need to create an account to use the eLearning tools. Contact foodtalk@uga.edu to find out eligibility for Online Learning.
Evaluation materials include participant online pre-test/post-test surveys and 9 post-module surveys, which include measures adopted from nationally representative surveys and validated measures recommended by the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework. These surveys are embedded within the eLearning lessons and available for use. Data sharing agreements can be established with UGA SNAP-Ed for additional institutions/organizations who wish to use Food eTalk and the data collected by the existing evaluation surveys.
*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 designed 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.