# How effective is nutrition training for staff running after school programs in improving quality of food purchased and meal practices? A program evaluation

## TL;DR

This study evaluates how nutrition training for after-school staff affects food purchases and meal practices, finding positive changes in buying healthier foods.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence that nutrition training can improve food purchasing practices in after-school programs.

## Key findings

- Staff reported a positive experience with the nutrition training and made adjustments to promote healthier foods.
- Receipt data showed increased purchases of vegetables, fish, and whole grains across all four program units.
- Findings suggest that similar programs can use these results to improve student dietary habits.

## Abstract

After school programs represents a setting for promoting healthy dietary habits. The aim of this study was to evaluate how effective the after school program staff perceived nutrition training aiming to improve quality of food purchased and meal practices. We further aimed to assess the changes in purchase of primarily fish and fish products, whole grains and fruit and vegetables, by collecting receipts from food purchase before and after the intervention.

This is a mixed methods study. Group interviews with after school staff were carried out and the data was analyzed deductively according to the RE-AIM framework. Receipts from food purchase were collected. Findings from the qualitative interviews indicated that the intervention had been a positive experience for the staff and suggested a new way of working with promoting healthy foods in after school program units. Although there were some challenges reported, the staff made necessary adjustments to make the changes possible to sustain over time. Findings from the receipts support the changes reported by the staff. These showed increased purchase of vegetables, fish, and whole grain in all four after school program units. After school programs in similar settings may expand on these findings to improve the students’ dietary habits.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13104-024-06798-5.