Impact of a community-based nutrition and leadership training program on dietary knowledge, healthy eating, and leadership capacity

Abstract

Background: Food insecurity and limited nutrition knowledge contribute to significant health disparities, particularly in people living in disadvantaged areas communities. The Food and Nutrition for Better Health (FAN) Leadership Institute program was designed to address these issues by equipping community leaders with nutrition knowledge and leadership skills to foster healthy behaviors and advocate for community health improvements. This study evaluates the program’s impact on participants’ nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, leadership skills, and capacity-building abilities. Methods: Using a pre-post, single-group design, 45 participants completed surveys before and after participating in a 12-week virtual training program. Surveys included self-reported leadership and capacity-building skills (rated on a 10-point scale), frequency of healthy eating, and a single-item measure of fruit and vegetable intake knowledge. Paired t-tests, chi-square tests, effect sizes (Cohen’s d, Cramer’s V), and correlation analyses were used to evaluate change and relationships between outcomes. Results: Participants showed a 10.6% increase in self-rated leadership skills and an 11.8% increase in capacity-building comfort, with medium effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.50 for leadership, d = 0.53 for capacity-building). While 77.8% of participants selected ‘3 + servings’ post-program (vs. 59.4% pre), few identified the recommended 5 + servings, indicating partial gains in fruit and vegetable serving awareness. While the increase in daily healthy eating frequency (from 72 to 82%) was not statistically significant, qualitative data indicated that participants valued the program’s relevance to their community health goals and highlighted a need for extended program duration and increased funding. Conclusions: The FAN program effectively enhanced participants’ leadership capacity and readiness to engage in health advocacy. Although dietary and knowledge outcomes were more modest, the findings support the use of community-based, socio-ecological interventions to strengthen public health leadership in food-insecure communities. Future work should use validated measures and explore longer-term, multi-level program impacts.