'13-Nutrition

__**Nutrition Challenge 2013 Summary**__ __** Marketing Approaches **__ As this is a new event at the school, marketing was deemed very important. A total of 60 challenge cards were handed out every week to the student body for a total of 180 challenge cards over the course of the challenge. Challenge cards had 3 different looks that corresponded to the different weeks. The cards also included tips for healthier eating as well as the rules for the challenge. In order to last, cards were constructed using heavy cardstock paper. Front Back **Figure 1:** Sample of the challenge cards issued to students.

A variety of posters were also used to engage students. Two weeks before the start of the challenge, posters were created and placed at significant locations throughout the school to generate hype for the challenge. The following week, more posters were created, which contained more details regarding the challenge. These complemented the posters of the previous week.

In addition to the posters, the challenge was also added as an event on the events calendar on the FHS website. The student-run announcement, The Daily Roar, was also used as a non-paper media outlet.

Other marketing approaches included the creation of a bulletin board located in a heavy traffic hallway.

**Figure 2**: Bulletin board located just off of the main hallway at FHS used to generate interest in nutrition and provide information.

We also chaperoned the Halloween dance.

**Figure 3:** Chaperoning school dance.

Cafeteria presence at FHS is very difficult to achieve due to the high number of students, the large space and other competing venues. To combat this, large and colourful signs and displays were used. This included a large painting of the Green Giant, an easel that held a Bristol board containing pertinent information, a colourful tablecloth and costumes. On one occasion, music was also employed.

**Figure 4:** Nutrition challenge table set-up in the cafeteria on days where UNB nursing students were present.  Prizes were also given out for top participating students.

**Figure 5.** Prizes A presentation was also developed for the international students that discussed the Canada Food Guide, nutrition label reading, and smart shopping methods. We projected a digital version of the Food Guide and walked students through. The Food Guide can be found **HERE.** The other sections were covered using a variety of hands-on tools and a simple powerpoint.

__**Participant Statistics **__ During the Club Extravaganza that occurred in late September, a total of 16 students indicated that they were committed to nutrition. These students later received a personalized letter inviting them to join the challenge. Of those students, 4 returned and actively participated.

Total number of discrete participants during the challenge:
 *  Grade 9: 5
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 10: 4
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 11: 3
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 12: 18
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> **Total: 30**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Figure 6:** Participation trend by grade over the course of the 13 day nutrition challenge at FHS based on number of participants who visited the nutrition table in the cafeteria at lunch to collect punches. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Total number of days: 13 days

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Total number of visits with the purpose of collecting points to the table by grade:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 9: 7
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 10: 15
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 11: 3
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Grade 12: 47
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overall visits to the nutrition table at lunch by challenge participants: 72 **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interesting trends include lowest overall participation at the end of the school week (i.e. on Fridays) even though the end of the week represented the freebie day where students could receive free fruit for participating. Often on these days, the cards for the following challenge week was issued to any student who showed interest. So although active participation was lacking, overall presence and advertising for the challenge was high on these days.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overwhelming participation by the grade 12 students is likely due to the fact that students in the Leadership class ran the challenge most days of the week. These students, being grade 12 students themselves, likely drew more attention from their peers than any other grade.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What they brought:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Over the course of the 13 day challenge, data was collected on the type of item the student had in his/her lunch and the source of the item. Students either brought at least 1 fruit, 1 veggie or both. The source of the item was either from home, purchased at school or purchased from other sources such as the local grocery store or nearby food retailers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Figure 7**: Type and source of the fruit and/or vegetable brought by the participating students during the 13 day nutrition challenge as a percentage of participants by grade. Other sources include purchases at the local grocery store or healthy options at nearby food retailers. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An overwhelming amount of students brought fruit products from home during the challenge. This indicates the potential for vegetable promotion and partnership with the cafeteria as anecdotal observation of students during the lunch hour in the cafeteria suggests that some students do purchase healthy foods without participation in the challenge.

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Conclusion ** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Overall, the nutrition challenge was able to inform and engage students to a certain degree. It is unfortunate that active participation as a proportion of the student body was not significant however this could be improved. Better marketing strategies could be employed. This includes better cafeteria presence on days where UNB students were not hosting the challenge and perhaps having a roaming table/booth/person in addition to the permanent table in the cafeteria since not all students use the cafeteria. Other factors that could improve student participation is more personalized and small scale marketing by approaching individual classes through presentations. An information session to the teachers could also help improve participation numbers because the teachers could then disseminate the information to the students or challenge them. Another key area that could be addressed is parents. Since parents often control the food products available in the home, engaging and informing parents could help increase participation numbers and ultimately change the eating habits of the students. Active partnership with Chartwells, the cafeteria food provider, could also improve challenge participation by means of targeting students who use their service.