Released September 8, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The director of Community Nutrition Programs for Ohio State University Extension knows that participants in federally funded programs are gaining the information to learn how to eat healthfully on a limited budget -- education they may not get anywhere else.
"I received a lot of questions about a recent study that was done right here at Ohio State (by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research), indicating that food stamp recipients, especially women, tended to have a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than non-users," McDowell said. "I think this sort of finding actually might encourage recipients to sign up for our nutrition education programs, which focus on following standard nutrition guidelines and making healthy choices even with very limited resources."
In addition, the American Heart Association recently issued specific recommendations for intake of added sugars in the diet, suggesting that women limit them to 100 calories a day, or 150 calories for men. The recommendations correspond to those listed in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the basis for educational pieces in OSU Extension's Community Nutrition Programs, which include the Family Nutrition Program (FNP) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). Both programs incorporate information on nutrition, food safety, thrifty food shopping, and physical activity.
-- FNP. OSU Extension received $3.1 million in matching funds this year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, targeting adults and families who are eligible to participate in the food stamp program, currently known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Currently, FNP is offered in 66 counties in Ohio.
"Often our programs are offered through Job and Family Services, food pantries, senior centers, Head Start, homeless shelters, public housing, WIC (the Women, Infants and Children program) -- we partner with everyone," said Ana Claudia Zubieta, director of Ohio FNP.
The program is flexible depending on participants' needs. Leaders can offer a single hour-long program or a series of programs over several weeks. The staple ingredient is reliable, research-based information: "If you educate people, you empower them to make good decisions," Zubieta said.
And they do. Results from 57,065 evaluations from the first nine months of the 2009 fiscal year show positive behavior changes across all categories, from planning meals to eating more fruits and vegetables.
-- EFNEP. OSU Extension received $2.1 million this year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for EFNEP, which targets homemakers with children living at 185 percent of poverty or less. The program is offered in 18 Ohio counties; locations eligible for the funds is determined by federal guidelines. In the 2008 fiscal year, EFNEP reached 5,500 Ohio families, and 90 percent of participants graduated from the six-lesson EFNEP curriculum.
Most are using a new curriculum, "Eating Smart, Being Active," developed by the University of California-Davis and the University of Colorado. The curriculum incorporates the importance of physical activity into the lessons, as well as principles of adult education and hands-on learning.
"The idea is, we can't just lecture to adult learners and expect behavior change," says Maria Carmen Lambea, director of Ohio EFNEP. "The new curriculum encourages dialogue, allowing participants to draw on their previous experiences, share with each other, and learn by doing."
Evaluation forms for the programs don't specifically ask about weight loss, McDowell said, but leaders hear anecdotally from students about shedding pounds by learning how to eat more healthfully. For example, Lambea said, one EFNEP participant in Lucas County started looking at ingredients in soda, cereal, juice and other foods. After seeing how much sugar the products contain, "I have been very careful about what I eat and drink. In two weeks, I have managed to drop four pounds and be very conscious of my health."
In addition, 80 percent of EFNEP participants said the program helped them improve one or more nutrition practices, and 26 percent credit participating in the program for increasing their physical activity levels.
A more sobering finding from evaluations, McDowell said, is that almost 30 percent of FNP participants say that within the last month, they have worried about being able to buy enough food. "When people are food insecure, they don't always make the healthiest food choices," McDowell said. "That's where our programs help -- how to buy nutritious foods and make them stretch on a limited budget."
For more information on OSU Extension's Community Nutrition Programs, go to http://fcs.osu.edu/hn/ and click on "Nutrition Education." To find out if your county offers the program, contact your county office of OSU Extension. Contact information for offices is listed at http://extension.osu.edu/counties.php.
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http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=5375
Source: Joyce McDowell, 614-292-1655, mcdowell.1@osu.edu
Writer: Martha Filipic, 614-292-9833, filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu
