\u3ci\u3eDay to Day Eats\u3c/i\u3e: Using an Educational Blog to Extend Nutrition Education

An educational blog was created for the purposes of extending learning beyond the reach of organized classes and supplementing the core themes of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. Focus group members reacted to the format, content, visual appeal, and writing style of the blog and addressed their likelihood of reading the blog because of these elements. Their overall acceptance of the blog as a relevant source of nutrition information confirms the usefulness of this mode of social media for expanding the sharing of information beyond in-person interactions

Physical Disabilities and Food Access Among Limited Resource Households

Food is a basic need of all people. The degree to which people have access to food influences food choice, quality of life, health, and illness. We examined how physically impaired and disabled food shoppers from low-income households managed food provision for their families and the impact health and physical disabilities had on family food choice among those with limited resources. This qualitative study examined food access among 28 low-income rural, village, and inner city families in upstate New York selected by purposive and theoretical sampling. An unanticipated finding emerged that nearly one-half of participants, all primary grocery shoppers for their families, had a variety of health conditions and disabilities that limited food access and, in turn, healthy, affordable food. These findings suggest that physical abilities, agency, and context interact in food access

Brink, Muriel S.

Also available as a printed booklet and from the Dean of Faculty website https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/Memorial Statement for Muriel S Brink , who died in 2016. The memorial statements contained herein were prepared by the Office of the Dean of the University Faculty of Cornell University to honor its faculty for their service to the university

Methods and design of a 10-week multi-component family meals intervention: a two group quasi-experimental effectiveness trial

Abstract Background Given the ongoing childhood obesity public health crisis and potential protective effect of family meals, there is need for additional family meals research, specifically experimental studies with expanded health outcomes that focus on the at-risk populations in highest need of intervention. Future research, specifically intervention work, would also benefit from an expansion of the target age range to include younger children, who are laying the foundation of their eating patterns and capable of participating in family meal preparations. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap by presenting the objectives and research methods of a 10-week multi-component family meals intervention study aimed at eliciting positive changes in child diet and weight status. Methods This will be a group quasi-experimental trial with staggered cohort design. Data will be collected via direct measure and questionnaires at baseline, intervention completion (or waiting period for controls), and 10-weeks post-intervention. Setting will be faith-based community center. Participants will be 60 underserved families with at least 1, 4–10 year old child will be recruited and enrolled in the intervention (n = 30) or waitlist control group (n = 30). The intervention (Simple Suppers) is a 10-week family meals program designed for underserved families from racial/ethnic diverse backgrounds. The 10, 90-min program lessons will be delivered weekly over the dinner hour. Session components include: a) interactive group discussion of strategies to overcome family meal barriers, plus weekly goal setting for caregivers; b) engagement in age-appropriate food preparation activities for children; and c) group family meal for caregivers and children. Main outcome measures are change in: child diet quality; child standardized body mass index; and frequency of family meals. Regression models will be used to compare response variables results of intervention to control group, controlling for confounders. Analyses will account for clustering by family and cohort. Significance will be set at p < 0.05. Discussion This is the first experimentally designed family meals intervention that targets underserved families with elementary school age children and includes an examination of health outcomes beyond weight status. Results will provide researchers and practitioners with insight on evidence-based programming to aid in childhood obesity prevention. Trial registration NCT02923050 . Registered 03 October 2016. Retrospectively registered