Dining with Diabetes: Helping Ohioans Manage Diabetes

IMPACT. 1: After the 2013 classes, participants were more likely to be able identify carbohydrate sources, serving sizes, and heart-healthy foods. Eighty-nine percent understood recommended vegetable serving sizes compared to only 52% before. -- 2. Following the 2013 classes, a larger percentage of participants reported they "often" or "almost always" read food labels, use heart healthy oils, and use herbs in place of sodium. -- 3. Following the 2013 classes, participants report that they are more physically active. Fifty-six percent reported that they had started to include physical activity into their daily routine.OSU PARTNERS: College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; College of Education and Human Ecology; College of Public Health; OSU Extension; Department of Human NutritionCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: 38 Ohio State University Extension County Offices; Local Registered Dietitians; Certified Diabetes EducatorsPRIMARY CONTACT: Daniel Remley ([email protected]); Shari Gallup ([email protected])Ohioans with diabetes are at risk for developing health problems such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, and loss of limbs. OSU Extension's Dining with Diabetes program consists of three, two-hour classes, that focus on the topics of carbohydrates; fats and sodium; and vitamins and minerals. Individual sessions include diabetes education, cooking demonstrations, and food tastings to emphasize that preparation of healthy foods can be a part of a healthy lifestyle

Extension’s Potential to Respond to Suburban Food Insecurity

Between 2000 and 2013, the suburbs in the country’s largest metro areas saw their low-income population grow twice as fast as primary urban cities. In 2018, the Pew Research Center reported that poverty increased more sharply in suburbs than in urban and rural counties (Parker et al., 2018). The rise in suburban poverty coincides with an increasing prevalence of food insecurity. The social and physical environments of suburban communities pose unique food-related challenges for the suburban poor. Awareness and stigmatization of food assistance programs, lack of transportation options, access to food pantries, and limited community gardens are examples of challenges that many families face. With a growing suburban population facing poverty and food insecurity, Extension is positioned to address the complex problem of suburban food insecurity through community-engaged research and education involving the areas of family and consumer sciences, community development, agriculture and natural resources, and 4-H youth development

Pike County Nutritional Sciences Field Day: The Story of the Strawberry

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings, Pike County ranks 88 out of 88 counties. The rankings are based on obesity rates, health behaviors, healthy food access and other socio-ecological determinants of health. Pike County also ranks low in terms of students who complete post-secondary education training. Many of Pike County's health problems mirror those of the larger Appalachian region and are attributed to socio-ecological determinants such as lack of healthy food access, food preparation skills, lack of awareness of nutrition science, traditional preferences for high-calorie foods, food insecurity and poverty. OSU Extension in Pike County and OSU South Centers developed and coordinated the Nutritional Sciences Field Day – The Story of the Strawberry to address some of the aforementioned challenges. The program was offered at OSU South Centers on May 25 to local high school agriculture and vocational, family and consumer sciences, and other science classes. The program objectives were to provide experiences and opportunities to increase awareness and interest in health science, food science, biotech, agriculture science, basic and applied nutrition science, physiology, food production, and local food resources. The students learned about opportunities from industry and academic leaders in various food and health sectors such as dieticians, biotech engineers, Ohio State faculty, and food processing. Students also participated in various hands-on activities and discussion related to nutrition. About 60 students and teachers from three Pike County schools attended the program. Before they left, each student was asked to complete a program evaluation rating his or her awareness and interest on various topics before versus after the program. Students were also asked what they had learned. Following the field day, students were more aware of the role that genetics play in fruit quality and nutrition, the daily recommendations for fruits and vegetables, and the nutritional benefits of small fruits. Students were also more interested in careers in agriculture, health and food sciences, and also more interested in buying local fruit. When asked what they had learned, several remarked that they had learned much about research, strawberry properties, nutrition and careers.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Tammy Jones, Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, The Ohio State University Extension, Pike County, [email protected] (Corresponding Author); Daniel Remley, Field Specialist, Food, Nutrition and Wellness, The Ohio State University Extension; Brad Bergefurd, Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University Extension, The Ohio State University South Centers; Jeffrey Fisher, Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University Extension, Pike County; Gary Gao, Extension Specialist, Small Fruits, The Ohio State University South Centers; Carol Hamilton, Program Coordinator, The Ohio State University Extension, Delaware County.The Pike County Nutritional Sciences Field Day – The Story of the Strawberry was offered to local high school students to increase awareness and interest in health science, food science, biotech and agricultural science, basic and applied nutrition science and physiology, food production, and local food resources. The field day is original in that it uses a multidisciplinary approach to address important issues of the county and region – health, wellness, and the vocational opportunities related to agriculture, food science and health. It also original in that it uses a strawberry theme to connect the topics including genetics, nutrition, taste and economic opportunities

Program Update: Multi-State Extension Conference Addresses Food Diversity from Farm to Table

In 2005 and 2006, The Ohio State University Extension, University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Purdue University Cooperative Extension Services developed and coordinated two conferences addressing food diversity from farm to table. The overall goal of the conferences was to foster a tri-state network of multi-disciplinary approaches to meet the needs of diverse audiences related to food. Self-reported email evaluation surveys suggested that conference goals and objectives were achieved. Future diversity trainings should continue to be multidisciplinary and should seek to attract others working in non-extension roles

Assessing Physical Activity Determinants in Urban Settings: Comparison of Perceptions and Environmental Audit Findings

Sedentary lifestyles are a contributor to obesity and urban adolescents are less physically active than rural adolescents. Supportive physical activity environments, understood as the geography, observations, and perceptions of features such as recreational facilities, sidewalks, bike lanes, traffic patterns, etc., have been positively associated with adolescent physical activity behaviors within urban settings. As part of a Socio-Ecological intervention to improve physical activity behavior, the Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA), the Active Neighborhood Checklist (ANC), and focus groups were used to assess the physical activity influences within an urban middle school and surrounding community. The assessments suggested that lack of parks, lack of walkability in the streets, perceptions of crime, lack of school programs, parental and peer influences were barriers to physical activity opportunities. The ANC, PARA, and focus groups each added valuable information for program planning to improve adolescent physical activity behavior

Using “Photovoice” to Identify Rural Community Food Issues

Rural communities experience unique barriers to food security. Developing food policy councils (FPCs) is a systematic approach to address food security. FPCs bring together a diverse network of community stakeholders to address local food system strengths and concerns. A six-state team developed new or provided support to existing FPCs in rural communities. Photovoice is a project component used to engage youths, helped identify community food issues, such as food access and affordability in studied communities. Furthermore, it was meant to engage FPCs in meaningful dialogue to identify solutions, such as community gardens and work with local food pantries. Because of the multistate nature of the project, unique measures were employed to provide consistent, successful training and implementation of Photovoice. This article reveals the best practices learned

Strengthening Families Through a Re-envisioned Approach to Fatherhood Education

Fatherhood education has the potential to affect not only fathers\u27 nurturant behaviors but also multiple dimensions of family life. The weGrill program blends fatherhood, youth development, and nutrition education, with food grilling as the focal activity. Grounded in multiple learning theories, the program helps fathers and their adolescent children learn broadly about family life topics, planning for the future, and nutrition and healthful food behaviors. The program represents a re-envisioned approach to fatherhood education

Voices for food: Methodologies for Implementing a Multi-state Community-based Intervention in Rural, High Poverty communities.

BACKGROUND: Rural communities experience unique barriers to food access when compared to urban areas and food security is a public health issue in rural, high poverty communities. A multi-leveled socio-ecological intervention to develop food policy councils (FPCs), and improve food security in rural communities was created. Methods to carry out such an intervention were developed and are described.METHODS: A longitudinal, matched treatment and comparison study was conducted in 24 rural, high poverty counties in South Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio. Counties were assigned to a treatment (n = 12) or comparison (n = 12) group. Intervention activities focus on three key components that impact food security: 1) community coaching by Extension Educators/field staff, 2) FPC development, and 3) development of a MyChoice food pantry. Community coaching was only provided to intervention counties. Evaluation components focus on three levels of the intervention: 1) Community (FPCs), 2) Food Pantry Organization, and 3) Pantry Client & Families. Participants in this study were community stakeholders, food pantry directors, staff/volunteers and food pantry clients. Pantry food access/availability including pantry food quality and quantity, household food security and pantry client dietary intake are dependent variables.DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide a framework for utilizing a multi-leveled socio-ecological intervention with the purpose of improving food security in rural, high poverty communities. Additionally, the results of this study will yield evidence-based best practices and tools for both FPC development and the transition to a guided-client choice model of distribution in food pantries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT03566095 . Retrospectively registered on June, 21, 2018

Unifying Multi-State Efforts Through a Nationally Coordinated Extension Diabetes Program

The Cooperative Extension System translates research to practice and “brings the University to the people” throughout the U.S. However, the system suffers from program duplication and is challenged to scale-out effective programs. One program, Dining with Diabetes (DWD), stands out for its dissemination to multiple states. DWD is a community-based program aimed at improving diabetes management, nutrition, and physical activity behaviors. DWD was coordinated through a national working group and implemented by state Extension systems. A pragmatic, quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the national coordination model and the overall impact of DWD. Four states reported data representing 355 DWD participants. Significant differences were found in diabetes management behaviors and knowledge from pre to post- program. However, there were challenges with data analysis due to state differences in data management. We detail the transition from one state to a national workgroup, strengths and challenges of the national model, and implications for other Extension programs