The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior announces Helen Denning Ullrich Award recipients

Aug. 22, 2012 - PRLog -- The Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) announces that Patricia Britten, PhD and Isobel Contento, PhD have been named co-recipients of the 2012 Helen Denning Ullrich Award of Excellence in Nutrition Education. The awards were presented at the 45th SNEB Annual Conference, “Nutrition Education: Energy from Synergy,” in Washington, DC on Monday, July 16 during the SNEB Annual Business Meeting and Awards ceremony.

Dr. Patricia (Trish) Britten is a nutritionist at the US Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. During her 40 year career Dr. Britten has developed nutrition education curriculum and materials on a local, state, and national scale and has worked with many organizations, including media, industry and policy makers, to advocate for nutrition education. One nomination letter remarked “her life’s work has truly exemplified the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior’s mission to promote effective nutrition education and improve healthful behaviors for consumers” and “the impact of her work has touched the health of all Americans through the Dietary Guidelines for All Americans, MyPyramid and MyPlate.”  

Dr. Isobel R. Contento is the Mary Swartz Rose Professor of Nutrition and Education at Teachers College Columbia University where she has taught and conducted research for over 30 years. Her textbook on Nutrition Education: Linking Research, Theory, and Practice and its Stepwise Procedure for Designing Theory-based Nutrition Education are considered transformational for the field of nutrition education and tremendous assets for researchers and practitioners alike. Both SNEB and Association of Nutrition Networks have adopted Contento’s definition of nutrition education. With colleagues, she has developed curricula for school-aged children and youth, used nationwide, that focus on the between link food choice, childhood obesity prevention, and food system sustainability issues. A letter of recommendation noted that “her work has contributed immeasurably to the betterment of American populations through its influence on USDA programs and policies, as well as on practitioners. I cannot think of any single person who’s done more to shape practice and the scientific discipline of nutrition education over the last two decades.”

The Helen Denning Ullrich Annual Award of Excellence in Nutrition Education is given each year to an SNEB member for outstanding achievement in the field of nutrition education.  This award is named in honor of Helen Ullrich, a dedicated member of SNEB and the first editor of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB).  Photos and information on past award recipients is online at http://www.sneb.org/about/awards.html.