Table 2 . Results: themes, key concepts from teachers' perspectives, and supporting quotes.

Theme	Key Concepts and Supporting Quotes
Meaningful roles	Key concepts
	Nutrition was experienced through a variety of roles inside and outside the classroom
	Roles were meaningful for students' lives; roles were necessities
	There could be more efforts toward nutrition education
	Supporting quotes
	Common roles quoted from most to all participants: “Role model,” “coach,” “educator,” “advocate,” and “supporter”
	“They really look to their teacher to model after kind of what they are doing. Um, so it really sets the stage of, if I talk about  what healthy choices I'm making, how these things impact me, they're gonna be more apt to try and want to do those  themselves. Because they really want to put themselves to be like their teacher or that role.” (Paula)
	“I'm our wellness champ. So I'm in charge of running our quarterly challenges that are trying to promote healthier  lifestyles. … And I arranged so that every day during NeSa testing the upper grades would have a snack.” (Jane)
	“I think I could talk more about it and even educate myself more on some of the correct terms and how to talk to them.” (Heather)
Importance	Key concepts
	Nutrition education was important compared to other school subjects
	Nutrition education was essential at a young age to form the foundation of healthy lifestyle habits
	There was a responsibility to help shape students' nutrition choices
	It was a necessity to teach in the classroom environment
	Supporting quotes
	“It's [nutrition is] probably one of the most important and most relevant pieces of our health curriculum that we do.” (Paula)
	“I'll be honest with you … I think it's just as important or more important because like I said earlier, if you don't have healthy nutrition, then your body isn't ready to be able to be here. … If you have better nutrition, then in turn,  hopefully you'll do better at school.” (Carrie)
	“I think it's just as important [as other subjects]. I mean, we wouldn't spend the whole year doing lessons like we're doing  right now, but I think it carries over.” (Karen)
	“I almost am positive they [students] don't go home and talk about nutrition at home and so, they need to learn about it  somewhere.” (Sue)
Perceived influences	Key concepts
	Teachers influenced students' behavior, knowledge, and self-efficacy through the additional activities they offered and  roles they played. Teachers influenced the curriculum through adaptation for their individual classrooms
	The curriculum influenced students' behavior, knowledge, and self-efficacy through interactive qualities. It influenced  teachers' self-efficacy through simplicity and ease of use
	Students influenced teachers' enjoyment of nutrition education through their positive attitude toward nutrition education
	Supporting quotes
	“They see what I do, and children at this age are influenced greatly by adults that they are with a lot. So, I think what I say  they take to heart.” (Nora)
	“Well, um, at the beginning of the year, nobody was ever taking salad. But it had … they had spinach in it. So I bought a  bag of spinach, and I brought it, and I just had them try just one plain leaf of spinach. Now they take it.” (Karen)
	“It [the curriculum] engages them more. … I think it helps them understand it more because they can see it instead of  just like read about it.” (Sue)
	“The resources and materials are there and it's done in a way that allows me to feel confident about something that I don't  know a whole lot about teaching.” (Paula)
	“I think teaching something that they want to know a lot about and they're excited about learning always helps me be  more excited about the subject too.” (Becky)
Supplementary  education and motivation	Key concepts
	Supplementary nutrition and physical activity–related lessons or activities were integrated in all classrooms
	Motivation came from environmental, classroom-based, and internal motivators
	Supporting quotes
	On motivation:
	“I just think childhood obesity is so sad.” (Jane)
	“I just think kids need to move. I think there's too much fast food and video games and sedentary lifestyles. And portions I  think are just enormous. I just think that if you can kind of teach ‘em young and get ‘em moving.” (Karen)
	“They're little. They shouldn't be staying in one spot.” (Paula)
	“… they're only five and six years old. So their attention spans aren't very long even though we're supposed to still chug  on getting the curriculum done. So I think that, you know, five minutes of movement break is huge. Huge. For all kids.” (Carrie)
Barriers	Key concepts
	Barriers to nutrition education included time, prioritization of core subjects, resources and budget, and home environment
	Supporting quotes
	“Our curriculum is only updated as budget permits.” (Becky)
	“We can't teach all the lessons.” (Melissa)
	“I think time is the biggest factor. If we are needing to finish up morning reading … maybe you'll get 20 rather than 30 minutes [of nutrition education] at the end of the day.” (Theresa)
	“But definitely math, and reading, and the writing skills have to take priority with that. But you can certainly do the math  and the reading and the writing with nutrition, you know, teaching nutrition. I mean, it definitely ties in with that.” (Theresa)
	“So I feel like I can encourage them here, but ultimately I feel like it's the parents’ choice to buy what they buy at the store.” (Sue)