Communications

Division News
Winter 2014 | Volume 1 | Issue 1
In this issue
Note from the chair ........................ 1
Note from the editor ...................... 2
Segmentation theory
and nutrition messaging ............... 3
Member in the spotlight ............ 4-5
Upcoming webinar ........................5
Communication toolbox ............... 6
Dear Communications Division members,
I became a member of the Society of
Nutrition Education and Behavior
(SNEB) in 2010, and joining the
Communications Division was a
natural step for me as someone with
an undergraduate degree in English
and literature.
Becoming the chair of the
Communications Division has helped
me meet dozens of exceptional
nutrition education professionals
and refne my leadership skills. My
deepest gratitude goes to the previous
chairs of the division, Tony Garcia and
Victoria Lee, who provided me with
so much insight into the mechanics
of the work and were ready to help
whenever needed.
I encourage you to get involved with
the Communications Division. Make
sure to like us on Facebook, suggest
an idea for a webinar or a conference
session or write for our blog or this
newsletter. Links to the Facebook
page and blog are both located below
the table of contents. We want to
hear from you!
If you feel like you can contribute
even more, nominate yourself as a
chair-elect for the upcoming
2014-15 term. This is a great
opportunity to get involved with the
division, get a frst-hand experience
participating in all the exciting projects
we have planned for the upcoming year
and learn invaluable leadership skills.
Please contact me at natalia.stasenko@
gmail.com if you are interested in the
position. I promise, you will be glad
you did!
The division is proud to be sponsoring
the webinar 8 Steps to Becoming a
Reporting Superstar by Stephanie
Evergreen, Ph.D., from Evergreen
Evaluation and Data, which will be
held on Dec. 19. I, myself, need help
developing the visual appeal of my
presentations. More information can
be found on the page 5.
If you would like to meet one
of the most effective nutrition
communicators I know, be sure to
read the interview with Pamela Koch,
executive director of the Laurie M.
Tish Center for Food, Education &
Policy, featured on pages 4 and 5. I
was fortunate to be one of Pamelas
students at Teachers College, Columbia
University and can say she is not only
one of the most recognized nutrition
education researchers but also a very
engaging and inspiring presenter.
PS: If you have not renewed your
membership to SNEB or the
Communications Division, you can
do so online! Simply login into SNEB
website to renew your membership!
Warmly,
Natalia Stasenko, MS, RD, CDN
Communications Division Chair
facebook.com/
CommunicationsDivisionSNEB
snecommunicationsdivision.
blogspot.com
sneb.org
Note from the chair
Division Chair
Natalia Stasenko, MS, RD, CDN
natalia.stasenko@gmail.com
facebook.com/TribecaRD
twitter.com/nataliastasenko
linkedin.com/in/nataliastasenko
Newsletter Editor
Song Xiong
songxng@gmail.com
twitter.com/songxng
linkedin.com/in/songxng
1
Hello everyone!
My name is Song Xiong and I am
excited to introduce myself as the
editor of the Communications Division
newsletter. Please dont let my name
fool you. I am musically illiterate, so
instead, I pursued a degree in dietetics
and communication with an emphasis
in public relations from the University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I am
currently a dietetics intern at Keene
State College in Keene, N.H.
Ive often been asked why I would
couple a dietetics major with
communication. As members of the
Communications Division, Im sure
you all understand the important role
communication plays in nutrition
education and behavior.
In the age of technology, nutrition
information can easily be found at
our fngertips. Not all information is
created equally though, especially in
the complex and ever-changing science
felds. This makes it vital for nutrition
educators such as us to effectively
communicate that information to
the public. In order to do so, it is
important to know how to reach them.
In a consumer nutrition trend report
released by the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics in 2011, television,
67 percent, remains the number one
source of nutrition information in 2011
in all age groups. Forty percent of the
respondants indicated the internet
as a primary source of nutrition
information, up 16 percent since
2008, making it a close competitor
for magazines , 41 percent, while
nutritionists, nurses
and dietitians remain as a low
source of information, 4 percent.
Though media rules the realm of
disbursing nutrition information,
the primary role of the media is to
inform and entertain, not to educate
indicates Laura Fernandez-Celemin
and Anna Jung from the European
Food Information Council. This
is not to say that the media wants
skewed information to increase its
ratings. The media wants as much
as nutrition educators do to give
accurate information.
With this in mind, the goal of this
newsletter is to share best practices
and explore new ways to overcome
these challenges. As the editor,
I welcome your thoughts and
contributions. Communication is as
important as the food we nourish
our bodies with.
Thank you,
Song Xiong
Editor
Note from the editor
2
Natalia Stasenko is the founder of pediatric private
practice Tribeca Nutrition in New York City and a
consulting dietitian for Head Start. She helps families
raise healthy eaters and enjoy family meals in simple
and delicious ways. As a mother of two, she has a
frst-hand experience trying to feed her family
nutritious meals without losing her mind.
Your contributions matter to us! If you would
like to submit a piece for the newsletter,
please e-mail Song Xiong, editor, at
songxng@gmail.com for writing guidelines.
Meet the chair
In the food industry, marketers target
specifc audiences for their products.
Cereal boxes are splashed with bright
colors and cartoon fgures for children,
young and fresh celebrities lend
their singing and acting chops to TV
commercials, and diet foods proclaim
its calorie number and weight loss
benefts. From the busy working
mom to the gym-obsessed college
student, food products are designed
and marketed with specifc consumers
in mind in order to more effectively
brand and sell them.
Tailoring messages and incentives
to appeal to different populations,
or segmentation theory, is nothing
new to the food industry. It is seen
in the Dairy Councils advertising of
the weight loss benefts of milk in its
pursuit of increasing sales and the
product placement of specifc goods
in particular TV shows. The audiences
for these products are similar in
their demographic, attitudinal and
lifestyle characteristics.
The International Journal of
Behavioral Nutrition and Physical
Activity published an article in 2009
regarding the opportunity of utilizing
Segmentation Theory in the social
marketing of obesity education and
prevention using the same methods
of the food industry to combat the
growing obesity epidemic. This is
relatively uncharted territory for the
nutrition realm. The study sought to
identify target groups within the U.S.
overweight population for targeted
messages in order to obtain more
healthy weights. Their analysis of 581
nationally polled participants found
fve target groups: Highest Risk, 19
percent; At Risk, 22 percent; Right
Behavior/Wrong Results, 33 percent;
Getting Best Results, 13 percent; and
Doing OK, 12 percent.
The study not only identifed clusters
for nutrition message targeting but
also identifed gaps in nutrition
knowledge and areas of education
such as smoking cessation and
physical activity, demographics and
education background for literacy and
assessment needs. The results offer
guidance and insight for nutrition
educators into creating more effective
nutrition messages and the most
effective platform to share it. Future
research would beneft from targeted
analysis of various social media outlets
to reach consumers and the framing
of the question.
The research paper can be read at
ijbnpa.org/content/6/1/12.
Sooyoung Uhm is a dietetic intern at
Keene State College. She completed
a degree in history and taught and
traveled overseas before changing
course and studying nutrition at the
University of Maryland-College Park.
Her interests include baking and
teaching ftness classes. She hopes to
combine those with nutrition in her
future endeavors.
Segmentation theory and nutrition messaging
By Sooyoung Uhm
3
Right Behavior/
Wrong Results Group
Those that fell in
the Right Behavior/
Wrong Results group
reported having a
basic understanding
of food knowledge and
reading food labels
more often than the
other groups, but 60
percent of the group is
overweight indicating
that nutrition messages
may have to re-educate
or correct perceptions.
At Risk Group
For those in the At Risk
group, they may beneft
from messages that
improve their overall
diet choices, since
they eat nearly half of
their meals away from
home. Education about
restaurant nutrition
information and
locating it may be most
benefcial. The At Risk
group spends the most
time on computers
than the other groups;
therefore online
messages may be more
appropriate for this
population.
Highest Risk Group
Of these groups,
99 percent of the
Highest Risk group
were overweight.
Additionally, those in
this group watched
the most television
and exercised the least
out of all the groups.
Those in the Highest
Risk group may
beneft from television
messages that remind
them of being mindful
in their food choices
and exercise messages
that support the
group that may have
limited experience with
exercise.
Getting Better
Results Group
Of the Getting Better
Results group, 75
percent of meals were
homemade and every
participant read food
labels.
Doing OK Group
In the Doing OK group,
members watched the
least television and
reported eating 78
percent of their meals
made from scratch.
Tell us about yourself and your
current position.
I am the executive director of the Laurie
M. Tisch Center for Food, Education &
Policy in the Program in Nutrition at
Teachers College, Columbia University.
Within this position, I have two
major responsibilities.
First, I work with our master and
doctoral level students. I teach three
courses: Community Nutrition,
Nutritional Ecology with Joan
Gussow, Ph.D., and Strategies for
Nutrition Education and Behavior
Change with Isobel Contento, Ph.D.
Through teaching these courses, we
hope to broaden students ability to
critically analyze issues related to
how we can build communities that
support a positive food environment
and sustainable food system. Using
this knowledge, we want to teach
students how to develop programs
and interventions that are effective
at enabling people to make healthy
food choices. Additionally I advise
students on culminating projects and
doctoral dissertations, which build
on and expand what they learn in the
classroom. We take seriously that we
are developing the next generation
of nutrition leaders and I keep this
front and center through all my work
with students.
Second, I work on and coordinate the
curriculum development, research and
policy work of the Center. The overall
mission of the Center is to connect
food and nutrition education with
policy change. We have developed the
Linking Food and the Environment
(LiFE) curriculum series for upper
elementary and middle school
students. The LiFE curriculum has
three volumes: Growing Food,
Farm to Table & Beyond, and
Choice, Control & Change, with a
fourth volume being published soon.
We have also developed Creature
101, a computer game to promote
healthy eating and physical activity
for middle school students; the Food
Day School Curriculum, which teach
children the importance of eating
fresh food, cutting back on processed
foods and advocating for a healthier
community; and Food Chemistry, an
i2 camp course that involves cooking,
food science and learning about food
system sustainability. We have also
developed engaging physical activity
breaks called Take a Dance Break
that can be used by schools and others.
These will be available online soon.
We conduct research to evaluate our
own programs and nutrition education
programs developed by others. We
also conduct research to develop better
understandings around nutrition
education programs in New York City
that can infuence future policy
around how nutrition, gardening and
other programming occur in schools
and communities.
What is your favorite thing
about your current job?
No two days are ever the same every
day presents new challenges and
opportunities for thoughtful, creative
solutions. Coming up with creative
ideas is what keeps me going.
How did you know you
wanted to work in the feld
of nutrition?
My mom loves cooking and is
very interested in healthy eating. I
struggled with weight gain as a child
and teenager, and this developed my
own interest in eating healthy and
having a positive relationship with
food. Additionally, my favorite teacher
in high school taught biology. He
inspired me to go into the sciences;
yet, I loved children and really wanted
to be a school teacher. At the end
of my frst year in college, I saw an
ad for a job as a nutrition education
assistant. At that time, I did not know
nutrition education was a feld. I got
the job and launched my career as a
nutrition educator.
What three things would you
recommend students and young
professional to focus on in order
to be successful in what they do?
1. Get really into all of our courses.
You never know what you might
do in the future. Many, many
people in the feld of nutrition
have different jobs in different
areas of nutrition throughout their
career. That is what makes the
feld so exciting.
2. Follow current issues. From
issues related to food system
sustainability such as genetically
engineered organisms to issues
about food additives and
contaminants to studies that are
Continued on Page 5
Member in the spotlight: Pamela Koch
By Natalia Stasenko, MS, RD, CDN
We take seriously that we are developing the next
generation of nutrition leaders.
4
fnding linkages between dietary
practices and diseases. There is
always a lot in both the media and
peer-reviewed journals. Find ways
to follow this and go beyond seeing
each article as an individual item
to make connections and critically
analyze and think through issues
as they evolve.
3. Cook, grow food and support local
farmers. In the feld of nutrition,
the more we are comfortable with
food and the more we support
local farmers and grow our own
food, the better we will be at
helping others do this as well.
How do you think we
as educators can better
communicate with our
audiences?
Get to know your audience when
possible get to know your exact
audience, or at least get to know
what research tells you about similar
audiences. That is how we can decide
what behaviors are important to
target, how we can truly motivate an
audience in personally relevant ways
and how we can know the what
kinds of knowledge and skills are
needed to guide people in making
positive changes.
There are numerous initiatives
and changes currently
underway with regard to our
food and physical environment.
What do you think about these
changes, and in your opinion,
which has the most potential
to really make an impact for a
healthier population?
I think we need to thoughtfully
and systematically combine
together initiatives that change our
environment with nutrition education
initiatives. Changing the environment
alone can have some impact, but these
changes can be easily overlooked
given the complexity of our current
environment. Education can only
be truly effective when people have
meaningful access to healthy food.
The synergy of a positive environment
along with effective nutrition
education has the potential to be
very powerful.
I think we need both initiatives that
increase access to healthy foods such
as fresh, local fruits and vegetables
as well as initiatives that decrease the
over-abundance of unhealthy foods
from making these less prominent
in stores and dining facilities to
decreasing the maximum single-
serving sizes for sweetened beverages,
chips and other foods to changing
zoning rules to decrease having
numerous fast food places all close to
each other.
What do you like to do on your
days off?
Watch my sons play baseball, cook and
work in my garden. I live in New York
City so I have nine Earthboxes. Even
this small garden is enough to grow
quite a bit and become connected to
growing my own food.
Member in the spotlight
Continued from Page 4
Upcoming webinar
8 Steps to Becoming a Reporting Rockstar
Stephanie Evergreen PhD, Evergreen Evaluation and Data
Thursday, December 19, 1- 2 p.m. ET
Register: sneb.org/events/webinars
Learning objectives:
1. Articulate reasons we should care about communication
2. Identify how color and font help a viewer make sense of a presentation
3. Describe methods for presenting information so audiences arent overwhelmed.
4. State adjustments to graphics for a more powerful presentation
In this webinar, attendees will learn the science behind good communication for reports, slides and graphs. Attendees
will leave with direct, pointed changes that can be administered using existing technology to enhance reporting products
such that they meet contemporary reader expectations. The guidance will enhance attendees ability to communicate more
effectively with peers, colleagues and clients through a focus on the proper use of color, placement and type.
SNEB Members attend webinars free as a beneft of membership. Cost to attend as a non-member is $25. If you are not an
SNEB member you will receive an e-mail with payment instructions after registering. After registering you will receive a
confrmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. Attendees earn 1 CEU.
5
Why is Trello so great? Its simple. I
mean, really, its simple.
At a glance you see the status of
your work. You see which tasks have
been completed, which have yet to
be started and which are in process.
You see to whom tasks are assigned
and which are unassigned. For more
organization, Trellos color-coded
labels allow you to identify related
tasks regardless where they fall
along the progress of the project.
So, what is Trello? According to the
Trello website, it is a collaboration
tool that organizes your projects
into boards. Think of it as a tool
that organizes anything that needs
to be organized.
Trello uses boards, lists and cards.
Create a board for work samples,
clients, projects or anything that
fts your needs. By default, each
board is created with three lists: To
Do, Doing and Done. Lists can be
changed, added or removed at any
time. Cards can be added to lists and
can contain checklists, comments,
URLs and documents. Assign
cards to colleagues to clarify whos
working on which task. Subscribe
to cards to know exactly when and
how cards change. Keep everyone on
track by assigning due dates. Cards
and lists can be copied and moved to
other boards. When youre fnished
with a card, drag it from Doing to
Done! If a set of cards needs to stand
alone, just create a new board and
move cards and lists to the new
board. Reorganizing is so easy!
Not only do you get simplicity
and organization, but you can get
Trello for free. Trello apps are
available at no charge for Android,
iPhone, iPad, and Windows Tablet
allowing you to organize anything,
anywhere, anytime. If the basic
app is not enough for your needs,
there are two upgrade options.
Trello Gold costs $5/month or $45/
year and provides larger uploads
and more sticker options. Trello
Business Class is $25/month or
$200/year and provides Google
App integration and additional
administrative functionality.
Trello apps are easy to use and
provide nearly all the functionality
available on the web.
Becky Gates is a dietetics intern
at the University of Maryland,
College Park. After graduating
from Texas Tech University in
Lubbock, Texas with a B.B.A. in
Management Information Systems,
Becky pursued a second career
in dietetics to make a meaningful
difference in the lives of others
through nutrition. She graduated
from the University of Maryland,
College Park with a degree in
dietetics in 2013. During her senior
year, she worked at the USDA Food
and Nutrition Information Center.
Becky enjoys spending time with
her husband and her two children.
She also enjoys various outdoor
activities including hiking, camping
and cycling.
Say Trello to simple organizing
By Becky Gates
THE TOOLBOX
6
To qualify for Professional Member status, you need at least
ONE of the following:
1. A minimum of a baccalaureate degree in nutrition, food,
or a related feld from an accredited institution; OR
2. Minimum of a baccalaureate degree in any feld with two
or more years experience in health, food, agriculture,
education, communications, or nutrition related
position(s) AND either an approved credential from or
membership in a related organization (such as AFFCS,
IFT, AND).
3. Applicants who do not meet the above criteria may
request an exemption from the Board of Directors.
Complete your application online at www.sneb.org/join
The Society for Nutrition Education
and Behavior Professional
Membership costs $190 per year. Your
SNEB membership benefts include:
SNEB | 9100 Purdue Road, Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46268 | (317) 328-4627 | info@sneb.org | www.sneb.org
Is Nutrition Education your Passion?
Access to cutting-edge
nutrition education research,
case studies, and best
practices through a print
and online subscription
to the Journal of Nutrition
Education & Behavior
Connection to renowned
nutrition education experts
through the members-only
listserv and membership
directory
Access to live and
recorded webinarsoften
with CPE credits
Membership in two of
SNEBs specialized Divisions
during frst year in SNEB
Voice in nutrition education
policy through SNEBs
Advisory Committee on
Public Policy
Discounted pricing to
attend the SNEB Annual
Conference
To qualify* for Associate Member status,
you need at least ONE of the following:
1. Bachelors degree from an accredited institution in
any feld;
2. Two or more years of experience in health,
food, agriculture, education, communications, or
nutrition-related position(s);
3. Associate degree from an accredited culinary,
technical school, or community college;
4. Sponsorship by a current SNEB Professional
Member.
Complete your application online at www.sneb.org/join
Associate Membership in the
Society for Nutrition Education and
Behavior only costs $95 per year.
Your membership benefts include:
* Individuals who qualify as a Professional Member may not join as an Associate Member.
SNEB | 9100 Purdue Road, Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46268 | (317) 328-4627 | info@sneb.org | www.sneb.org
Is Nutrition Education your Passion?
Access to cutting-edge nutrition
education research, case
studies, and best practices
through online subscription
to the Journal of Nutrition
Education & Behavior
Connection to renowned
nutrition education experts
through the members-only
listserv and membership
directory
Access to live and recorded
webinars often with CPE
credits
Membership in two of SNEB
specialized Divisions, such
as Food and Nutrition
Extension Education
Division, during frst year in
SNEB
Voice in nutrition education
policy through SNEBs
Advisory Committee on Public
Policy