CDN Public Health & Community Nutrition 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is administered by which federal agency?
- Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (Correct answer)
- Department of Labor
Correct answer: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
SNAP is administered by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which oversees all federal food assistance programs.
Question 2: Which research design is considered the gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness of a community nutrition intervention?
- Cross-sectional study
- Case-control study
- Randomized controlled trial (RCT) (Correct answer)
- Ecological study
Correct answer: Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
The RCT, with random assignment and a control group, provides the strongest evidence for causal effectiveness of an intervention.
Question 3: Cultural competence in community nutrition practice primarily requires a dietitian to:
- Learn to cook dishes from every culture served
- Understand and respect cultural values, beliefs, and food practices that influence dietary behavior (Correct answer)
- Avoid discussing traditional foods that are high in fat or sodium
- Use only translated standard nutrition education materials
Correct answer: Understand and respect cultural values, beliefs, and food practices that influence dietary behavior
Cultural competence means understanding and integrating clients' cultural contexts — including food traditions, beliefs, and values — into nutrition care.
Question 4: The term 'nutrition transition' refers to the pattern observed when developing countries shift toward:
- Traditional plant-based diets as incomes rise
- Western-style diets high in processed foods, fat, and sugar as they urbanize (Correct answer)
- Increased reliance on government food assistance programs
- Adoption of vegetarian dietary patterns
Correct answer: Western-style diets high in processed foods, fat, and sugar as they urbanize
Nutrition transition describes the shift from traditional diets to energy-dense, low-nutrient Western-style diets associated with urbanization and economic development.
Question 5: A dietitian working with an older adult congregate meal program notices low participation. Which barrier is MOST commonly reported among older adults for not attending?
- Dislike of food quality
- Transportation difficulties (Correct answer)
- Preference for eating alone
- Cost of the meal
Correct answer: Transportation difficulties
Transportation is consistently identified as the leading barrier to participation in congregate meal programs among older adults.
Question 6: In public health nutrition, 'primary prevention' of obesity would include which of the following?
- Bariatric surgery referral programs
- Weight management counseling for overweight adults
- School-based programs promoting healthy eating before obesity develops (Correct answer)
- Treatment of obesity-related type 2 diabetes
Correct answer: School-based programs promoting healthy eating before obesity develops
Primary prevention aims to prevent disease onset; school-based healthy eating programs target children before obesity develops.
Question 7: When conducting a dietary recall in a community research setting, which method provides the most accurate estimate of usual intake for a group?
- Single 24-hour dietary recall
- Multiple 24-hour dietary recalls averaged across the group (Correct answer)
- Food frequency questionnaire only
- Observation of one meal per participant
Correct answer: Multiple 24-hour dietary recalls averaged across the group
Multiple 24-hour dietary recalls allow statistical adjustment for day-to-day variability, providing more accurate group-level usual intake estimates.
CDN Public Health & Community Nutrition 5
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is administered by which federal agency?