A new scientific report has been published that will be used to update the official Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The guidelines are designed to increase people's knowledge of how to eat healthfully.

We've probably all heard about the latest nutrition study. The one that says a certain kind of food may cause cancer. But what about the study from last month finding the same food may prevent hypertension? How about all of the different studies that find eating a certain way may help us lose weight? It can be hard to wade through the huge amount of information about diet and nutrition, even for nutrition professionals. The truth is that the study of diet and health, also known as nutritional epidemiology, is a highly complex field with huge barriers to conducting effective research. Emerging studies that provide new information can change what we think we know over time.

Among new recommendations from the committee is to avoid feeding kids younger than 2 years foods and beverages with added sugars.

It should be noted that the Scientific Report and the Dietary Guidelines themselves are designed to advise our entire population on how best to eat. The idea is that if everyone followed these recommendations, then we would see lower rates of diet-related chronic diseases overall in America, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancers, and other diseases that develop over time. However, there are always going to be special considerations that some people need to make when choosing their food, related to health conditions, individual differences, or guidance from their medical providers. Even so, the expert recommendations are a good starting point to consider modifying in discussion with a registered dietitian or medical provider.

• The Committee recommends limiting added sugars to 6% or less of our daily calories, rather than 10%or less as is currently recommended.
  
  
• While this advisory committee was tasked with developing guidelines for pregnant and breastfeeding women for the first time, it found limited research on which to make specific recommendations. For pregnant women, the committee found, "Evidence suggests that consuming foods within healthy dietary patterns before and/or during pregnancy may modestly reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and preterm birth." More research in the area of diet and lactation/breastfeeding is needed.
  
  
• This advisory committee was also tasked with developing recommendations for infants and young children ages 0 to 24 months, and found some evidence that children who had ever been breastfed had lower rates of type 1 diabetes and asthma. The report highlighted the importance of feeding young children nutrient-dense foods in addition to breastmilk or infant formula. It further advises that children younger than 2 years old should not be given any sugar-sweetened beverages to drink and, in fact, should consume no added sugars.
  
  
• The committee found the longstanding advice that healthy diets "include higher intake of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, low- or nonfat dairy, lean meat and poultry, seafood, nuts, and unsaturated vegetable oils" is still supported by the evidence.
  
  
• The committee found the advice to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats (but not necessarily with carbohydrates) is still supported by the evidence.

Both women face many cultural and economic challenges to achieve their missions, and thanks to their tenacity, dedication and hard work, they have turned their goals into a reality.

Claudia P. Diaz Carrasco, a native of Atizapán de Zaragoza, State of México, has been part of UC ANR since 2015 as Youth Development advisor focusing on Latino and/or low‐income youth and families.

“When I joined ANR, there were really few people in the state and around the country doing work intentionally with Latino youth development and 4-H,” said Diaz-Carrasco.

Since joining 4-H, Diaz-Carrasco has been instrumental to increasing Latino participation in 4-H programs. She works in the Inland Empire, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties — two of the largest counties in California, with almost 5 million residents; 65% are Latino.[i]

“About 60% of school-aged youth in Riverside and San Bernardino are Hispanic/Latino,” said Diaz-Carrasco. “Since the beginning, the primary focus of my position has been to develop, implement, evaluate, strengthen and expand local 4-H programming to serve the current under-represented population better."

In an environment that is generally not friendly to changes and challenges, Diaz-Carrasco faces a daily array of obstacles to achieve her goal. Among them are high levels of poverty among the families she serves, high crime rates in some communities, and a lack of interest from the parents, who in most cases work two or three jobs to make ends meet.

“The success of my work as the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) advisor relies on how effective my extension team and I can be in sharing knowledge gained through research, education and program evaluation, and transferring it to the communities we serve in ways that are relevant for their day to day lives while embracing their cultural context,” said Diaz-Carrasco.

The knowledge that Diaz-Carrasco and her team bring directly to the youth, their families and communities in the Inland Empire creates positive changes and healthier lives.

“The way we educate the public matters, who are our educators matters. Science and culture are at the core of every program we have implemented since I started,” Diaz-Carrasco said.

Claudia Diaz-Carrasco in class

Diaz-Carrasco gives three reasons why her work is penetrating the thick layers of the communities she serves. The first one is that she is an immigrant, like many of the families she works with day in and day out. “I approach my work, knowing that a lot of people are going or have gone through the same process I went through in 2014.”

She also cites thinking out of the box as another reason for her success. “I believe creativity and flexibility are at the core of any programs I develop.”

To exemplify this statement, Diaz-Carrasco and her team partnered with the Mexican Consulate in San Bernardino, where they held a successful summer camp and strengthened the partnership with the Consulate. Youth were able to participate in this unique program that aims to help them embrace their Mexican identity, even when in some cases they or their parents cannot travel outside the US.

The summer camp program was designed to increase positive ethnic identity, and to provide youth development reflecting the Latino and immigrant experience and the physiological and social effects of discrimination. The program also responded to economic poverty by assisting families with transportation, providing snacks and in some cases other items such as toothbrushes, water bottles or connecting families to health and food agencies. “Above all, we held the camp in a place that the families were already familiar with and felt safe, the consulate!” said Diaz-Carrasco. “We turned their art gallery, where official agreements are signed, into a playground. That's what I mean by out of the box.”

The interest in the program was visible from day one. In a matter of hours, 100% of the participants were reached. In the end, the parents expressed their gratitude for offering the programs in an accessible way.

Thinking out of the box has also allowed Diaz-Carrasco to partner with major companies in Southern California for the benefit of the youth.

In five years, Diaz-Carrasco has been able to increase 4-H membership in her area from 667 to 6,021. The overall percentage of Latino youth in 4-H went from 28% to 85%, and the number of volunteers grew from 175 to 354.

In the words of Sofia, a Moreno Valley student and one of the participants in the 4-H Juntos conference, “Juntos 4-H provides a home and a place where you can safely feel like it is your community. I hope expanding the program gives more students an identity as to what the community is like and that there are people who care for them and have someone to relate to and trust.”

In the heart of California's Central Valley, far from the busy streets of the Inland Empire, almost 100,000 ethnic Hmong call communities like Merced and Fresno home. This community has grown from 1,800 in April of 1982 to nearly 95,000 in 2019.[ii]

UC ANR has supported the Hmong communities in diverse areas, from farming to nutrition. For the past 34 years, Sua Vang, Community Health Education Specialist with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), has been educating these communities on the value of healthy eating.

“In 1986, I first moved in from San Diego, and I was looking for a job. My husband happened to be a community aid specialist for low family aid,“ said Vang. “So the EFNEP program asked to have two nutrition educators for this position, he happened to be there, I happened to be looking for a job, and I got hired.”

Sua Vang, center, teaches a class.

Tens of thousands of Fresno County families have benefited from her nutrition lessons during three decades of bringing healthy habits to Hmong families. Vang has faced a lot of cultural problems while doing it.

“When we go to recruit for our nutrition program, the husband has to approve it and sometimes the husband does not give his support,” said Vang. “It doesn't matter if the wife would like to take the class.”

Cultural eating habits are also a big challenge, obstacles she has overcome with patience, tenacity and creative thinking. “People from Southeast Asia don't eat or drink milk a lot,” she said. “I introduce the almond milk and rice milk so that even if they have lactose intolerance, they can still have milk and calcium in their diet.”

Vang speaks four languages: Hmong, Lao, Thai and English. She has used different platforms to bring the nutrition programs to the Hmong communities, from churches to private homes to classrooms to airwaves. Vang stresses how challenging recruiting new participants to the nutrition classes has become through the years. The older generation of Hmong don't want to go out of their homes and the new generation, said Vang, are more interested in making money than living a healthy life. But she has a pitch for them. “I say to them, if you have a lot of money and your health is not doing well, you have diabetes, and you are dying out, who is going to spend that money?”

Considering that participants in Vang's nutrition classes are immigrants from countries where food safety and nutrition are not part of their daily eating habits, the impact of her classes within the Hmong community is impressive. 73% of participants have improved in one or more food safety practices. Eighty-nine percent have improved in other areas, like reading nutrition labels and ensuring children eat a healthy breakfast.

“Thanks to this career, I would say that I have helped a lot of people, and I am glad. I know my family, my children are doing good, they eat healthily and they are doing good," Vang said. “I make a lot of new friends. I am delighted knowing that I help them.”

[i] 2010 US Census
[ii] 2010 US Census

CalFresh Healthy Living, UC staff gives away tomato and basil seedlings to Oakland parents picking up food for their children at Sankofa Academy. The plants were donated by UC Master Gardener Program in Contra Costa County.

To plant the seed of healthful eating among youngsters, UC Cooperative Extension is giving away vegetable plants to Oakland families with school children. 

On Thursday, May 7, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC staff will give tomato and basil seedlings to Oakland parents who come to pick up food for their children at West Oakland Middle School. The team will also be giving away plants again at Elmhurst United Middle School on May 14 and at Bret Hart Middle School on May 21. The plants are being donated by the UC Master Gardener Program of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Each tomato seedling comes with planting instructions and a bag of compost.

“Gardening activities can help increase children's interest in eating fresh fruits and vegetables and improve their understanding of the health benefits and major nutrients found in the plants grown,” said Tuline Baykal, program supervisor of the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC team in Alameda County.

UCCE Master Gardeners are donating 100 tomato plants in 1-gallon pots for the giveaway on Thursday. The seedlings are in paper bags with planting instructions in six languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Arabic. 

Parents practiced social distancing while picking up plants in Oakland.

The plants were part of the annual plant sale normally held in April to raise funds for the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County, which is funded primarily by revenue generated by the plant sale and donations. The sale, which attracts thousands of gardening enthusiasts, was canceled due to COVID-19 safety concerns.

“We didn't want the plants to go to waste, we wanted to get them out into the community,” said Dawn Kooyumjian, UC Master Gardener Program coordinator.

Growing vegetables can pique children's interest in eating fresh vegetables. Tomato, spinach and lettuce seedlings shown.

“Rather than compost the plants at this time of heightened interest in home vegetable gardening and food security, we saw an opportunity to connect with Oakland Unified School District through the UC Master Gardeners of Alameda County School Garden Support Team, which supports gardens in Title 1 schools by mentoring teachers, parents and Food Corps volunteers.”

In past weeks, they gave away tomato plants at Sankofa Academy, which serves children in preschool through fifth grade.

UC Master Gardener volunteers Devra Laner and Ned Lange prepare tomato plants to give to Oakland students and their families.

UC Master Gardener volunteer Devra Laner coordinated with OUSD to distribute plants at the meal giveaways.

“Six to eight Oakland school gardens are being opened up this week,” Kooyumjian said. “UC Master Gardeners will be donating some tomato plants to these school gardens and FoodCorps Service members will be harvesting the garden produce to donate to food distribution centers.”

In addition to the plants being given away to Oakland families, the UC Master Gardener Program in Contra Costa County has donated 30,000 plants to 48 community and school gardens in the Bay Area. They also provided plants to local nurseries that could not keep up with the current demand for gardening supplies that COVID-19 has created.

“Typically, our plant sale takes in $85,000 or more. Because of COVID-19, we turned the Great Tomato Sale into what our gardeners call ‘Our Great Tomato Share' to support our underserved community,” said Frank McPherson, director of UC Cooperative Extension for the Bay Area.

The plant giveaway continues on Thursdays at Oakland schools throughout the month of May.

EFNEP, UC Cooperative Extension's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, partnered with Culinary Arts Program in Tulare County to celebrate EFNEP's 50th anniversary. Chef Jeff, who is leading the Culinary Arts Program, sponsored and conducted a two-hour workshop in May 2019 for EFNEP parents, with a focus on basic cooking principles. The participants learned how to make and tasted a creative grilled salad.

Mariana Lopez, EFNEP Nutrition Educator, clicking a group selfie!

The parents had just completed the EFNEP Eat Smart ● Be Active nutrition education series at Tulare Adult School. Mariana Lopez, a bilingual nutrition educator, led the EFNEP classes from March 19 to May 21. Ten participants completed the series and graduated. The graduates expressed interest in a cooking workshop. Deepa Srivastava, the UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor, reached out to Chef Jeff to initiate this collaboration and Lopez coordinated efforts to organize the cooking workshop.

The starter

Chef Jeff started the workshop by introducing his culinary program. He shared cooking methodology and the use of "mother sauces," basic sauces that serve as a bases for flavoring different dishes. All participants had great questions for the chef, which indicated their interest in learning more about the measurements, ingredients and the application of "hot and cold" cooking techniques.

Chef Jeff sharing the ingredients for grilled salad.

Chef Jeff demonstrating how to make a healthy vinaigrette.

The main course

EFNEP participants learned the art and science of putting together a healthy vinaigrette and grilled salad. In this process, Chef Jeff provided information about the importance of food safety and sanitation, knife skills, cutting and chopping, and healthy salad ingredients. He demonstrated how to wash, cut and chop variety of vegetables followed by grilling the vegetables on the stove top. Participants loved the taste of the colorful grilled vegetables. Additionally, Chef Jeff explained the many creative ways to eat grilled vegetables, including lettuce wraps. Participants were mesmerized to see him create a rose from sliced tomatoes.

The colorful grilled vegetables on the stove top.

Chef’s Special–Tomato Rose and Lettuce Wraps!

The dessert

Icing on the cake was the take-home message and the potential for a long-term collaboration between EFNEP and Tulare Culinary Arts Program. The two-hour workshop was packed with cooking knowledge, skills and creativity. Participants' meaningful comments about the workshop included, “it was fun, creative, and new information.”

“I really enjoyed taking part of this special collaboration between our Tulare EFNEP Program and the Tulare Culinary Arts program with Chef Jeff," Lopez said. "It gave me the opportunity to connect with my participants in a more personal level, because I was also a participant — learning and taking with me fun and exciting tips to share in my classes with my food demos as well as in my home with my family's meals.”

The workshop ended with the chef happily packing grilled salad for participants to take home. Indeed, Chef Jeff inspired participants to cook healthy with fun and creativity!