Abstract
The authors share their experiences in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Web-based continuing education course, The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2000. The rationale for the course, its content, and participants' responses, as well as suggestions for future e-continuing education courses, are presented.
The most recent iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), the fifth edition, was published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in May 2000. 1 Main users of this document are "information multipliers," such as nutrition researchers, nutrition and health professionals, and paraprofessionals. Many of them needed timely instruction on changes since the previous edition, training on the new science base justifying the changes, 2 and help in translating the recommendations into practice. The authors chose to help these information multipliers through a Web-based course. This report is provided to assist others who are planning online professional nutrition education courses.