Marcela Olaya’s research while affiliated with University of Chile and other places

Background: adolescence is a relevant period to educate in healthy eating behaviors. For this purpose it is necessary to obtain expert opinions and reach consensus and prioritize the best methodologies available to educate adolescents on healthy eating. Methods: the Delphi method was chosen to get consensus through repeated iterations of anonymous opinions in two rounds. Participants were experts in nutrition (24), education (14), and cooking (2), selected with the following inclusion criteria: outstanding professional career; interest shown in their knowledge area, and expertise in healthy eating education. The 40 experts in the first round were reduced to 37 in the second round. The questionnaire was mailed in the first round and the results were sent to establish priorities in the second round. The analysis was done with descriptive statistics (%). Consensus was reached if ≥ 75th percentile. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to analyze internal consistency, which was considered good for an alpha value higher than 0.7, and moderate for values between 0.6 and 0.7. Results: there was 90% consensus for food habits, culinary skills, and methodologies. In food habits experts prioritized improving access to healthy food and curricular changes at school. In culinary skills they agreed on healthy breakfast and healthy snack preparations; in methodologies the consensus was to educate in healthy eating at breakfast and lunch at school, and on participative activities such as cooking workshops. Conclusions: the Delphi method was useful to obtain consensus and priorities on the methodologies to educate adolescents in healthy eating.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess dietary behavior among sixth- to eighth-grade students to inform the delivery and content of nutrition education. Methods: This was a qualitative study through focus groups. Subjects were 57 adolescents 10-14 years old, 30 males and 27 females distributed in six groups. To compare group responses, transcriptions were coded using the original question guide. The information was analyzed using the content analysis technique. Results: The main findings showed that adolescents knew dietary guidelines, but they consumed non-healthy food. They liked to cook but preferred fast food preparations. They increased fast food consumption on weekends and with friends. In utilization of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), all students had access to technology through mobile phones, tablets and computers and were open to have an interactive program with personal information about diet and behavior. Conclusions: Adolescents dietary behavior is not healthy and can be changed with interactive programs considering participation, personal information and utilizing ICT.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess dietary behavior among sixth- to eighth-grade students to inform the delivery and content of nutrition education. Methods: This was a qualitative study through focus groups. Subjects were 57 adolescents 10-14 years old, 30 males and 27 females distributed in six groups. To compare group responses, transcriptions were coded using the original question guide. The information was analyzed using the content analysis technique. Results: The main findings showed that adolescents knew dietary guidelines, but they consumed non-healthy food. They liked to cook but preferred fast food preparations. They increased fast food consumption on weekends and with friends. In utilization of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), all students had access to technology through mobile phones, tablets and computers and were open to have an interactive program with personal information about diet and behavior. Conclusions: Adolescents dietary behavior is not healthy and can be changed with interactive programs considering participation, personal information and utilizing ICT. Keywords: adolescents, community health promotion, dietary behavior, qualitative methods, focus groups

Background: The objective of this study was to assess dietary behavior among sixth- to eighth-grade students to inform the delivery and content of nutrition education. Methods: This was a qualitative study through focus groups. Subjects were 57 adolescents 10-14 years old, 30 males and 27 females distributed in six groups. To compare group responses, transcriptions were coded using the original question guide. The information was analyzed using the content analysis technique. Results: The main findings showed that adolescents knew dietary guidelines, but they consumed non-healthy food. They liked to cook but preferred fast food preparations. They increased fast food consumption on weekends and with friends. In utilization of Information Communication Technologies (ICT), all students had access to technology through mobile phones, tablets and computers and were open to have an interactive program with personal information about diet and behavior. Conclusions: Adolescents dietary behavior is not healthy and can be changed with interactive programs considering participation, personal information and utilizing ICT. Keywords: adolescents, community health promotion, dietary behavior, qualitative methods, focus groups

Background: The objective was to assess dietary behavior among sixth to eighth-grade students to inform the delivery and content of nutrition education. Methods: This is a qualitative study through focus groups. Subjects were 57 adolescents 10-14 years old, 30 males and 27 females distributed in six groups. To compare group responses, transcriptions were coded using the original question guide. The information was analyzed using the content analysis technique. Results: The main findings showed that adolescents knew dietary guidelines recommendations, but they consumed non-healthy food. They liked to cook but preferred fast food preparations. They increased fast food consumption on weekends and with friends. In utilization of Information Communication Technologies, all students had access to technology trough mobile phones, tablets and computers and were open to have an interactive program with personal information about diet and behavior. Conclusions: It is important to know adolescents’ dietary behavior to prevent obesity designing education intervention programs. Keywords: adolescents, community health promotion, dietary behavior, qualitative methods, focus groups