The proposed program will develop and test curricula designed to teach the concepts of healthy eating to elementary students in the fourth grade. Also tested will be addition of parental involvement to the classroom teaching. The research will be conducted in three phases: 1) Pilot year - Development of curricula and testing in a classroom setting - Development of evaluation measures including educational process, cognitiopns, reported behaviors and physiological measures; 2) Study One - Twenty-four schools will be randomly assigned to a new curriculum, traditional nutrition curriculum or control status. They will be followed by evaluation measures for three years; and 3) Study Two-Thirty-two schools will be randomly assigned to the newly developed curriculum taught with and without parents involvement. The students will be followed two years. The objectives of this research are to develop effective teaching methods for eating patterns designed to prevent premature cardiovascular diseases. Disciplines necessary for this research include nutrition, education, social psychology, epidemiology, medicine and statisics.
