Request Approval to Perform Research for Team Nutrition Posters for Elementary and Middle School

Attachment E

OMB Control # 0584-0524

Expiration Date: 4/30/2013

OMB BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0524. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 45 minutes per response, including time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.

FNS Nutrition Social Marketing
Poster Concept Formative Research Interviews

Food Service Directors

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. As you may know, we will be discussing the food choices available to students through the National School Lunch program. Since the changes to the program have been implemented this year, students now have access to healthier options at breakfast and lunch. To support these changes, Food and Nutrition Service, which is part of the USDA, is looking to develop communications materials to help encourage students to make healthier food choices.

We’ll be talking for about 45 minutes today, and I’m looking to get your opinions and perceptions of the foods available to children in schools, the challenges that you face as a district Food Service Director, and get your feedback on some poster concepts that could be used to help encourage healthy eating habits.

Also, we are video and audio taping this interview. This is just to help me out, because after we talk today I have to write a report. I’ll use the tapes to help make sure that everything I put in my report is accurate. Your identity and anything you personally say here will remain secure, to the extent permitted by law. When I write my report, I will not refer to you by name.

Let’s get started…

Section 1: Perceptions of Healthy Eating in Schools (5 minutes)

• Do you feel that kids in your elementary and middle schools generally understand healthy versus unhealthy eating?

  • Where are they learning about healthy eating habits?

  • On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unhealthy choices, and 10 is very healthy choices, where would you rate the food choices of an average student in your schools?

  • What do you think can be done to help improve this rating?

  • Are there programs currently in place to encourage healthy eating?

• What has been the student response to the changes in the meal pattern requirements for school lunch and breakfast?

• Do you work with teachers to provide nutrition education to students in your middle and elementary schools?

  • Tell me about what you have done.

  • What advice do you have for teachers who want to include nutrition education in their classes?

    • Would you recommend they partner with school foodservice to provide this?

    • How could they go about partnering with school foodservice?

Section 2: Concept Evaluations (25 minutes)

I have some posters here for elementary and middle school students that I would like to show you. These are posters that may be placed in the cafeteria or any other place food may be served in schools. I’d like to get your feedback on the overall design of the posters, the content provided as well as the impact you think this may have in your schools.

First, I have 4 themes for elementary schools; each theme has two posters.

1. I’ll show you a poster and read what it says, then, hand the poster to you.

2. Using your pen, I’d like you to circle the things you like and put an x through the things that you don’t like.

3. I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the poster, then we’ll discuss.

4. Then, I’ll show you another version of the poster.

[MODERATOR ROTATE ORDER: 1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL POSTERS; 2) MIDDLE SCHOOL POSTERS]

Poster Evaluation Questions:

• Overall, how do you feel about this poster?

  • How do you feel about the message of this poster?

• Tell me about the things that you circled.

  • What is it about these things that you like?

• Tell me about the things you crossed out on the poster.

  • What is it about these things that you do not like?

  • What might you do to change this?

• Do you believe this poster would be appealing or unappealing to [elementary/middle school] kids in your schools?

  • Will it appeal to certain grades and not others? Which grades?

  • What reasons do you have for saying this?

  • Is there anything you would change to make this more appealing?

• If you had a choice, where would you place this poster in the school?

  • This poster will be (26’ x 36’). Would this size be appropriate to hang in the cafeteria? On the serving line? Somewhere else?

  • Why or why not?

  • Is there another size that would be more useful for you?

• How do you feel about the images on this poster?

  • In your opinion, will the images resonate with the kids in your school?

• How do you feel about the characters on this poster?

  • What, if anything would you change about the character (s)?

• How do you feel about the tagline of the poster?

  • Do you believe kids in your school(s) will understand the point of the poster?

• How do you feel about the supporting text on this poster?

  • How legible is this text?

  • How important is this information for the kids in your school(s) to read?

• Overall, how unique is this poster?

  • What about it is unique/not unique?

• Overall, do you believe this poster can help effectively encourage healthy eating?

  • Why or why not?

• Now take a look at one other way this same theme could be executed. Which poster do you think is more effective at encouraging healthy eating? For what reasons do you like this poster better?

[REPEAT QUESTIONING FOR ALL POSTERS IN A GIVEN GRADE LEVEL]

• We’ve seen 4 main poster themes, with 2 executions each. Does one theme stand out as being more effective?

  • Does one poster stand out as being more effective? What are your reasons for saying this?

[REPEAT POSTER EVALUATIONS FOR OTHER GRADE LEVEL]

Section 3: Additional Resources (15 minutes)

• Overall, how effective do you believe promotional signs or posters like this can be at encouraging healthy eating habits in children?

  • Have you used promotional signs or posters in your schools before?

  • Tell me about your experience.

    • Where are they placed? What size is most useful?

• What other materials have you used to promote healthful eating in your schools?

• Where do you get ideas for promoting healthy choices?

  • Have you ever collaborated with other food service directors, teachers, or other people on promoting healthy food choices? What did you do?

• What other kinds of tools, that you don’t currently have, would be helpful for you to have in encouraging children to try new foods or select more healthful offerings?

  • PROBE: Tray liners with nutrition messages, graphics and messages to put on menus, digital for the website, table tents, stickers, parent letter templates, menu cards

  • Would these be useful in your schools?

  • How would you use these?

  • If you could choose one tool that you wish you had in order to help you in encouraging healthy eating, what would it be?

• Have you ever used materials from USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative?

  • Which materials have been most useful for you?

  • Is there anything you can think of that you wish they would create?

• What resources would be helpful for you as a Food Service Director in your own work to improve the healthfulness of the breakfasts and lunches served in your school(s)?

• Do you have any final advice for people who are trying to get elementary and middle school students to choose healthier foods?

Thank and close interview.

4

FNS Team Nutrition Poster Testing Formative Research

Attachment E: District Food Service Director Discussion Guide