Download SUMMARY SHEET

FOOD AND NUTRITION MONITORING
AND EVALUATION GUIDANCE
This guide is designed to support you to evaluate Food and Nutrition Interventions. It outlines
the paperwork that you are expected to return to the Food and Nutrition Team at the end of a
course, and also how to complete the monitoring and evaluation process.
What is the purpose of monitoring and assessment?
It is important to carry out ongoing monitoring and evaluation for the following reasons:
 To measure the extent to which the set aims and objectives of the course have
been achieved
 Continue to make changes and improvements to the course following process
feedback from groups
 To identify the service users baseline diet and capture positive dietary changes
they have made over the duration of the intervention
 Evidence to service user that the course has been effective
 Quality control - Identify any areas of weakness or areas for improvement in the
service to uphold high-quality standards
What paper work needs to be returned to the Food and Nutrition Team at the end of a
course?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Purple referral form (one per participant)
Diet assessment form (two per participant- pre and post)
Blue monitoring form (one per participant)
Service user evaluation form (one per participant)
All data collected by the Food and Nutrition Team will be treated confidentially in line with the
Data Protection Act 1998.
1. Purple referral form
The referral form ensures appropriate people
are recruited to the course. This allows the
limited resources to be distributed to where
they are most needed. It will also provide the
Food and Nutrition team with useful
information which may impact on the
effectiveness of the course for that service
user (such as special diet needs, learning,
language or physical support needed etc)
To be eligible for the service the
participant must be motivated to change
their diet and also meet one of the following criteria:
a) have a poor diet (determined by answering ‘no’ to one of the 4 diet questions)
b) rate themselves as lacking confidence to be able to prepare and cook healthy meals
from scratch (rating themselves as ‘5 or less’ on the scale)
c) be at risk of poorer health outcomes (either CVD risk factors, associated co-morbidities,
or a member of a vulnerable population group such as older people, mental health service
uses, physical/ mental disability etc).
Food and Nutrition Team
Please ensure every section of the referral form is completed
2. Food and Nutrition Assessment form
Approximately how long will it take to administer the diet assessment?
The diet assessment can be easily administered within a group setting. It is important that
the assessment is not rushed; therefore the assessor should allow 20-30 minutes for
completing the activity.
What is a portion?
The Food Portion Guide indicates through the use of pictures the amount of a food classified
as one portion. For example a medium size fruit is one portion of fruit and one slice of bread
is one portion of bread. To ensure accuracy it is important that each individual has a copy of
the food portion guide in front of them
and refers to it throughout the activity.
How do I record a food portion if it is
consumed less often than once per
week?
If a portion of food is consumed twice
per month then the number of portions
is 0.5 portions per week. If a portion of
food is consumed once a month then
the number of portions is 0.25 per
week. If a food is eaten less than once
per month then enter a zero.
How do I ensure that the individual
recalls accurately the amount of a food that they eat?
Talk the individual through a typical day/week; guiding them through their average breakfast,
lunch, dinner and any additional snacks they may consume. It may be useful to distinguish
between a typical weekday and a typical weekend as food
consumption on these days can often differ. Encourage the
individual to be as honest and accurate as possible. If an
Remain non-judgemental
individual is being vague in their description for example,
and maintain a neutral
using words such as ‘occasionally’ or ‘sometimes’ then the
reaction to answers given by
assessor must clarify the meaning of this. Ask open
participants. Participants
questions and avoid leading questions. You may use
may not feel comfortable
closed questions to clarify answers given.
giving honest answers if they
feel they are being judged.
Completing the diet assessment activity
Setting up the activity
Ask all individuals to sit together as a group, ideally around a table. Hand out the following
forms to each individual:
- Food and Nutrition Assessment form
- Portion size guide (can share these between two people)
Introduction to diet assessment activity
- The diet assessment data is used by the Food and Nutrition Team to monitor and
evaluate the effectiveness of the Get Cooking! course. It assesses the extent to which it
Food and Nutrition Team
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has achieved its aim to support clients to make positive dietary changes. Pre and post
dietary assessments are compared to determine the extent of dietary changes made
during the 6 week course.
Each participant will record their own answers on their own form. Some participants with
poor literacy or written skills may need assistance with this. Also be aware of language
barriers that may prevent a participant being able to read or write English. This doesn’t
mean they are illiterate in their own language. We do not have the forms in other
languages therefore a family member or translator may be required to help complete
paperwork.
Completing the diet assessment

Number of fruit and vegetable portions consumed in a typical week.
Explain to the group what counts as a portion of fruit or vegetables. Give examples of a
portion and refer to the Portion Size guide. Reiterate that potatoes do not count towards the
fruit and vegetable portion, and 100% pure fruit juice and beans and pulses can only
contribute towards one portion a day each, regardless of amount consumed. It will be easier
to focus on fruit and vegetables separately. Ask participants to record the number of fruit
portions consumed in a typical week in the first box, and the number of vegetable portions
consumed per week in the second box. Add the two values together to give the total number
of fruit and vegetable portions consumed in a typical week.

Number of oily fish portions consumed in a typical week
Explain what is meant by an oily fish. For a fish to be classed as an oily fish it must naturally
contain a sufficient amount of Omega-3 fatty acids in a given portion to offer recognised
health benefits. Refer to the list of oily fish in the portion size guide. It is unlikely that
someone will eat oily fish every day. They may consume it less than once a week which is
where the value to record may be 0.5 (twice a month) or 0.25 (once a month). Reinforce that
tinned tuna is not an oily fish; this is a common misconception. Other oily fish can be tinned,
frozen, fresh, smoked etc. Recommendations are to aim for 2 portions of fish a week, one of
which to be oily. It is advised to consume no more than 4 portions of oily fish a week due to
the high mercury content.
Food and Nutrition Team

Number of salty foods consumed in a typical week
Focus on processed meat, fish and meat alternative products to start. It may be useful to go
through each food on the portion size guide and ask participants to record how many times
they have each food in a typical week in the column (this is not an exhaustive list therefore
other foods not on the list can also be included if they are high in salt). Refer to the portion
guide to reinforce what quantity counts as a portion. Then move onto ready meals and preprepared sauces and takeaways. Finally ask about salty snacks. Add together the values in
the 3 boxes to get the total number of salty foods consumed in a typical week.

Number of sugary foods consumed in a typical week
Ask participants to go through the sugary foods listed that are high in added sugar and note
how many times a week they consume each of the foods. Refer to the portion guide to see
how to quantify a portion and record number of portions per week in the column. In the next
section ask participants to think about all the times they add sugar to their diet. This may be
in drinks or on cereals etc. Think about how many teaspoons of sugar they would add at one
time, then how many times a day they consume that food, and then multiply it by how many
times a week they have it. Record the total number of teaspoons of sugar in the final column.
Food and Nutrition Team

Number of fatty foods consumed in a typical week
Ask participants to think about the additional fat that they add to foods such as cream or
dressings such as mayonnaise. Ask them to think about how often they use it and how much
they would normally use each time. Record the number of portions per week in the relevant
columns. Then ask them to think about the foods they consume that are high in fat. Refer to
the portion guide list of common foods that are high in fat. It may not just be food eaten out of
the home or processed food brought in, if they use cooking methods such as frying which
adds additional fat to a food, this also needs to be counted.

Number of wholegrain foods consumed in a typical week
Ask participants to think about any high fibre foods they consume. It may be easier to start
with bread and bread products – do they consume white or wholemeal? If it is not wholemeal
do not count the number of portions. When consuming rice is it brown or white? If it is not
brown, do not count the portions. Same with pasta and high fibre breakfast cereals. Refer to
the portion guide for a list of high fibre breakfast cereals. 50/50 or best of both doesn’t count
as high fibre therefore cannot be included. Record total portions per week in the column.
Food and Nutrition Team
Ideas for collecting diet assessments
Activity idea 1
Useful for people with learning difficulties, language barriers or short attention spans
- Stick 7 sheets of A3 paper around the room with a different food category written on each
piece of paper. By each food category, place a selection of food examples or food
packages to show examples of that type of food. Give each participant a different
coloured pen and ask them to go around the room and write on each sheet the number of
portions of that food that they consume per week. You will be able to collect the data for
each participant by the coloured pen they are using.
Activity idea 2
For people with poor memory/ recall skills, learning difficulties or young people.
- Ask participants to keep a one week food diary documenting everything they eat and
drink for 7 days. Ask them to note portion size/ quantity of the food or drink eaten, and
add as much information as possible in terms of readymade/ homemade; ingredients
included in recipe; cooking methods etc.
Summarising the Diet Assessment Results and Goal Setting
For some participants, doing an ‘assessment’ usually means they want to find out how they
did. As a group activity, go through the results of their diet assessment and use it to highlight
areas of their diet they could try to change. Some participants may not want to share their
results with the rest of the group but they can still use it to set their own goals. (see goal
setting booklet).
Food and Nutrition Team
Completing the skills and knowledge assessment
Each participant must read the 5 questions and place a tick in the one box that is most
relevant to them at that given time. Remember this is the participants own perception of their
knowledge and skills therefore whatever they record is true for them. The facilitator should
not try to influence this decision in any way.
1) Raw, basic, unprocessed ingredients refers to cooking and preparing meals from
scratch, for example a spaghetti Bolognese made from scratch may be prepared
using tinned tomatoes, garlic, herbs, mince meat and vegetables. A spaghetti
Bolognese made using a pre-prepared jarred sauce and a packet of mince meat is
not preparing and cooking a meal from scratch!
2) Ask the participant to rate their current knowledge of diet and health on a scale of 1-7,
where 1 is very little knowledge and 7 is very comprehensive knowledge. Remember
this is where they perceive themselves to be on the scale at that moment in time.
3) Ask the participant how confident they feel to prepare and cook meals from scratch at
home. The question is not asking if they are able to do it or how good they are, this is
how confident the participant feels to be able to do it. Someone can be confident
competent (they are confident because they know they have done it successfully
before) or confident in-competent (they are confident they could do it, however they
don’t know if they could because they have never tried!). It is difficult to differentiate
between these reasons for rating confidence as we don’t know WHY the person has
marked themselves at that level; we just know that that’s how confident they feel.
Food and Nutrition Team
4) This question asks the participant how confident they are to be able to adapt recipes.
This means being able to swap ingredients to make recipes healthier for example;
reducing the overall amount of sugar in a recipe and replacing it with natural
sweetness such as fresh fruit, dried fruit, or reducing the amount of fat by using
natural yoghurt in place of margarine/butter. Also, instead of frying, the participant will
be confident to use healthier cooking methods such as grilling, baking, steaming,
boiling or poaching.
5) Ask the participants to score themselves on how confident they feel to try new foods
that they may not normally eat or have never tried before. The idea is to improve their
confidence in trying new foods which will enable them to expand the variety of foods
in their diet to help them achieve a good balanced intake of nutrients. This will also
give you an insight into their willingness and confidence to try new foods over the
duration of the Get Cooking! course. Confidence is usually linked to past experiences
therefore if they are lacking in confidence they may have had an unpleasant
experience when trying new foods in the past. The Get Cooking! course should
create positive experiences of trying new foods, and allow the person to try foods in a
relaxed and comfortable environment.
Collating the data
-
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Collect in the completed diet assessments for each participant making sure there is a
value recorded for the total portions in each section. Ensure the participants name is
recorded on the diet assessment form.
At the end of the course, transfer the diet assessment data onto the blue monitoring
forms for each participant under the relevant ‘pre’ or ‘post’ section.
For each food category record whether the portion they are consuming per week results
in a scoring of ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ (see guide below).
Food and Nutrition Team
3. Blue monitoring form
The purpose of this form is to capture vital
information on the participant including
personal details, dietary assessment pre and
post, cooking skills assessment pre and post
and record of attending and completing a Get
Cooking course.
Sections marked ‘for office use only’ are to be
completed by the Sessional worker or
provider who is delivering the course.
When the group have completed the Diet
Assessment form transfer the ‘no. of portions per week’ from each diet category into the table
in section G on the blue monitoring form.
The food categories are scored as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ in line with government
recommendations or ‘ideal’ intake that was decided on by the Food and Nutrition Team for
that food category (see table 1 below). For example, the government recommendations state
that we consume at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, therefore this works out
to at least 35 potions per week. If the participant is not meeting this recommended amount,
the food category is scored as a negative. If they are meeting this, they score positive.
We use the positive and negative scoring to determine those areas which can be improved,
however it is not only whether they score a positive or a negative but also the number of
portions they consume. For example, someone that is consuming 25 portions of fatty foods
at the start of the course and has reduced this to 15 portions by the end of the course will still
score negative each time. However, they have successfully reduced their fat intake by 10
portions per week which is a positive improvement and should be recognised and praised (it
will still need to be recorded as a negative on the monitoring form).
Table 1
Food category
Fruit and vegetables
Oily fish
Salty foods
Fatty foods
Sugary foods
Added sugar (tsp)
Wholegrain foods
Portions per week
Negative
Less than ‹ 35
0 or ≥ 4
≥ 4 or more
≥ 4 or more
≥ 4 or more
≥ 35 or more
≤ 6 or less
Food and Nutrition Team
Positive
More than ≥ 35
1-3
0-3
0-3
0-3
0 – 35
≥ 7 or more
 The diet assessment activity can be used as a tool for the participant to identify areas
of their diet that they can improve.
 The diet assessment can also be used to highlight the positive areas of their diet that
they may already be meeting the government recommendations for. This can be used
as a motivating tool to show that they are already capable of meeting the dietary
recommendations in other areas of their diet.
 Always be positive and praise the fact that they have attended the Get Cooking
course to learn how they can improve their diet – no matter where their starting point
is.
 Go through each food category one by one and ask participants to put a star by the
food category if they scored in the ‘negative’ section for that food category using the
table above. To avoid participants feeling like they have failed to achieve the
expected standard, avoid using the word negative and describe it as ‘areas to
improve’.
 Once you have gone through all of the food category scores, hand out the Goal
Setting booklets to each participant.
 Ask each participant to set 3-4 dietary changes they would like to make to their diet
over the following 6 weeks. Get them to use the results from their diet assessment to
set their goals. Ask the participants to record these goals in the ‘Goal Setting Booklet’
that each individual is given.
 Review their goals on a weekly basis to see what changes they plan to make in the
following week, and what changes they have made in the previous week.
Food and Nutrition Team