RESEARCH SUMMARIES

Here is a brief summary of some of the results obtained from research-based projects that have introduced the Food is Elementary© (FIE) curriculum into schools. Email Us for more information.

Trumansburg, NY

Antonia Demas entered a Ph.D. program in 1991 to scientifically validate her 25 years of work in the area of nutrition education, which she completed at Cornell University in January 1995. The FIE curriculum is an outgrowth of her award-winning1 doctoral research which was conducted in Trumansburg, NY. Her data demonstrated the following results:

Eating Behavior

• After sensory experience in the classroom with 16 new nutritious commodity-based foods, the intervention students ate significantly greater amounts of these foods when served in the lunch room. This was up to 20 times more than the control students, who rarely touched the new food over the course of the year

• 35% of the parents from the intervention group reported positive changes in family eating behaviors. These improvements were based upon what the participating students taught the family (the "trickle up" effect)

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Academic Achievement

• 100% of students in the intervention group improved in their knowledge of food, nutrition, and multiculturalism during the year. As one student wrote, "I learned about some customs in my parent's home countries that I didn't know existed!"

• 1 USDA, Most Creative Implementation of the Dietary Guidelines, 1994, Society for Nutrition Education, Excellence in Nutrition Education, 1994.

Food Education Every Day (FEED), Vermont

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A collaborative research project between the Food Studies Institute, NorthEast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), Food Works and Shelburne Farms.

Dr. Demas serves as a consultant for evaluation of the Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED) program.VT FEED works with schools and communities to raise awareness about healthy food, the role of Vermont farms and farmers, and good nutrition. They act as a catalyst for rebuilding healthy food systems, and cultivate links between the classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities.

Data collected from two rural schools demonstrated the following results:

Eating Behavior

• Each classroom evaluated showed children changing their favorite foods from unhealthy to healthy options, with a total of 64 nutritious foods being added.

Academic Achievement

All students receiving nutrition education and hands-on food experiences which included using the FIE curriculum showed improvements in food and nutrition knowledge. The mean increase between the pre and post-test scores was 35%

Family

• Out of 120 parents responding to the survey, 81% reported positive changes in their child's eating behavior

• Out of 124 parents responding to a question about whether they wanted nutrition to be a permanent part of their child's curriculum all but one answered "yes"

Community Involvement

• Participating teachers and principals want nutrition education to occur, being aware that a lack of nutrition knowledge can have detrimental affects on children's health.

Florida International University (FIU)

A pilot study conducted in collaboration with Florida International University and four of the most at-risk elementary schools in Miami, (1998 - 1999) demonstrated the following results out of a sample of 248 students:

Eating Behavior

• 60% of students reported that their eating habits had improved as a direct result of the program

Academic Achievement

• 100% of the students learned elements of nutrition objectives specified in the Miami-Dade County schools health curriculum

• 80% of students expressed a desire to see the Food is Elementary recipes served in the school lunch program and said they would choose these foods if offered

Family

• 71% of students reported that they cook the FIE recipes at home.

• One school principal commented that, "Students, teachers, and parents have reported to me that their understanding of nutrition has improved 100% as a result of the program. The children enjoyed the project tremendously. It was broadening for them to experience diversity and the opportunity to try something new."

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Hawaii

Dr. Demas has been the consultant on the Healthy Hawaiian Initiative, funded through the health department. This program teaches students in 8 language immersion schools (primarily for Native Hawaiians) about food, nutrition, growing native plants, and health. Students help prepare nutritious lunches and cook dinner with their families every other week at the school. This project has been extremely successful in improving the health of these students and their families.

Harvesting taro root in Hawaii

Making poi, a traditional Hawaiian food made from taro

Miami, Florida

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The Bay Point Pilot Study was conducted as part of a food, nutrition, and cooking program to educate staff and students about healthy eating and the role food plays in health, academic performance, and behavior. The Bay Point School for Boys in Miami, Florida, is a residential school for teenage males who have been sent to Bay Point by the courts.

Dr. Demas was invited by the administration to develop healthier options in the cafeteria and design a culinary arts/nutrition curriculum as a vocational choice for students. Nineteen students signed up to take the culinary arts course, along with the kitchen staff. Because the interest and cooperation students and staff showed in nutrition, Dr. Demas suggested that she design a pilot study to evaluate the effect healthy food has upon student health, behavior, and academic performance.

Nineteen students participated in the study. For three weeks they prepared and ate only plant-based meals, drank eight glasses of water a day and kept journals to document personal experience. All of these students reported improvements in: grade point averages, athletic performance, aggressive behavior, acne, strength, and overall well being. Most of the students also reported weight loss.

Results

Medical results interpreted by Dr. Harvey Zarren, cardiologist, Lynn, MA.

Four students of the eleven who had pre and post study blood levels had starting total cholesterol levels above 150mgm/dl. All of these students had decreased levels of total cholesterol at the end of the three week study period. The decreases varied from 3 to 23%, average 15%. Traditional preventive cardiology wisdom teaches that a 1% drop in total cholesterol results in a 2% drop in risk of future heart attacks. Thus a 15% drop in total cholesterol, if sustained, might decrease the risk of future heart disease by 30%, a significant reduction in risk.

Homocysteine levels dropped an average of 28%, but levels were not measured fasting, so the results are interesting but not clearly significant. Elevated homocysteine is implicated in arterial and venous disease and Alzheimer's disease. Animal source proteins contain three (3) times the amount of methionine compared to plant source protein. Methionine is the precursor of homocysteine. It is reasonable that changing from an animal source food diet to a plant based diet will lower homocysteine levels and likely lower the risk of vascular disease and possibly Alzheimer's disease.

Sevenof the eleven patients who had blood work done had weight loss ranging from one (1) to two (2) kilograms over the month long study. The average weight loss was 1.4 kilograms or three (3) pounds. Obesity is epidemic in young people in the United States. A dietary change that can result in weight loss will help to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease and can likely cut the risk of common cancers such as colon cancer.

The Bay Point Study is very interesting for its behavioral and subjective results. The small amount of data, while not statistically significant is also very interesting. The idea that such a short term study can decrease weight, decrease elevated cholesterol levels quite significantly and might also decrease homocysteine levels need further research.

Among the benefits of changing to plant based diets is the potential improvement in vascular function affecting skeletal muscles and the blood supply to organs such as the heart. Arteries which supply oxygenated blood and fuel to muscles in the body are constantly opening and closing to alter blood supply to various parts of the body. The arteries open or enlarge under the influence of a substance called endothelial derived relaxing factor which signals the muscle cuff around arteries to relax, allowing the arteries to open or dilate. Studies have shown that ingestion of a fatty meal can decrease or stop production of relaxing factor for up to six hours in normal subjects. Such people have decreased muscle blood supply during that time. Plant based diets are intrinsically lower in fat than are animal based diets and would be expected to affect blood vessel function less adversely.

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Click here to read journal entries from Culinary Arts Students participating in the Plant-Based Nutrition Pilot Study at Bay Point Schools, in Miami, FL.

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South Bend, Indiana

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A collaborative project between Dr. Demas and the Food Studies Institute and Dr. Tish Kelly-Holmes, St Joseph Elementary School, Martin's Grocery Store, and Memorial Hospital

This project looked at improvements in health and educational measures in both children and adults being taught the Food is Elementary curriculum. We were also able to monitor changes in shopping behavior that were influenced through learning about healthy foods. This shopping data is still under analysis and will be released soon. With positive education as the only intervention used, dramatic results were found.

Of those exposed to the Food is Elementary curriculum, health and educational findings include:

Academic Achievement

• On average, nutrition knowledge test scores improved by 99% for children and 96% for adults, after the curriculum had been taught

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Health Improvements

• An 89% average improvement in health scores for both groups

• A decrease in BMI (Body Mass Index) for 49 out of 68 children (adjusted for growth): 72% change

• A decrease in BMI for 33 out of 42 adults: 79% change

• Out of the 21 students whose BMI's were in the 85th to 97th percentile (classified as obese) at the beginning of the study (30% of those tested), 6 students (almost a third of the group) were no longer in this category at the end of the five month period