CFHL, UCCE Kern offers evidence-based food and nutrition education to 42 parents. Participants improved their food resource management and nutrition practices, contributing to UC ANR's public value of promoting healthy people and communities.

The Issue

According to KidsData, Kern County has a food insecurity rate that is higher than the state average at 23.8%, compared to California's overall rate of 18%. Obesity rates are also high, with nearly 50% of children and 74% of adults being either overweight or obese.

Southeast Neighborhood Partnership Family Resource Center (FRC) is a non-profit organization located in Bakersfield, CA.  Southeast Neighborhood Partnership FRC is dedicated to providing outreach, case management, and supportive services for families in need. They also provide parenting classes that can be attended voluntarily or mandated by court orders for Kern County residents.

How UC Delivers

The Southeast Neighborhood Partnership FRC staff requested that CFHL, UCCE Kern assist with providing evidence-based nutrition lessons for their 42 parents to satisfy a 12-week parenting course. As a result, nutrition and physical activity direct education efforts were remotely conducted via Zoom from April through June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lesson objectives focused on advancing actions and behaviors that improve health and wellness for participants and their families. CFHL, UCCE Kern staff provided parents lesson handouts from the Plan, Shop, Save, & Cook curriculum. Parents received information regarding how to plan, read nutrition labels, save money on food, and food safety. Virtual education allowed the CFHL, UCCE Kern team to provide services to residents in Ridgecrest, Mojave, and Buttonwillow. These outlying cities in Kern were previously not reached due to geographic distance.

The Impact

During Zoom meetings, several participants shared that they began to increase vegetable servings in their meals, and others shared that they were now reading the nutrition facts label to choose healthier food and snacks for their family.

Plan, Shop, Save, and Cook (PSSC) adult participant evaluation survey results indicated that after attending the Plan, Shop, Save & Cook series, out of the 30 survey respondents:

o   33% reported running out of food before the end of the month less often, indicating an improvement in families' food security.

o   90% reported improvement in at least 1 of 5 food resource management behaviors (plan, prices, shop, think, facts).

o    80% reported using MyPlate to make food choices more often.

o    67% reported that they use "Nutrition Facts" on the food label to make food choices more often.

o    53% reported shopping with a grocery list more often.

o    40% reported planning meals ahead of time more often.

o    43% reported comparing unit prices before buying food more often.

o    27% reported that when deciding what to feed their family, they thought about healthy food choices more often.

In addition, adults (n=30) who participated in the Plan, Shop, Save & Cook series showed statistically significant improvements (p<.05) from the pre to post survey in how often they planned meals ahead of time, shopped with a grocery list, used the “Nutrition Facts” on the food label, used MyPlate to make food choices, and used the five food resource management behaviors (plan, price, shop, think, fact).

These changes in budgeting, nutrition knowledge, and skills of families in Kern County demonstrate UC ANR's commitment to healthy people and communities and safeguarding abundant, healthy food for all Californians.

“Our partnership with CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Kern County program has been key in providing our clients the health education they need to care for their children properly. CFHL, UCCE Kern staff have been so insightful and consistent in educating our participants regarding meal planning, food labels, saving money and cooking meals for years now. Our collaboration has been essential in providing our court mandated parenting clients with the nutrition component needed to meet the criteria required by the Department of Human Services. Thank you so much for all your help, we truly appreciate our partnership.” – Cecilia R., Parent Educator, Southeast Neighborhood Partnership FRC

 

UCCE Santa Barbara County educators partnered with P.E. teachers to boost enrolled classes  by 53% during COVID-19 distance learning. About half of the students surveyed indicated intentions to drink more water and increase activity, contributing to improved youth health.

The Issue

The CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) program serving Santa Barbara County has partnered with elementary schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District (SMBSD) for several years to provide evidence-based curriculum and trainings in nutrition and physical activity. SMBSD serves over 16,900 students with 87.2% of the students qualifying for free or reduced-price school meals.[1] During the COVID-19 Pandemic, many families, especially those with young children, experienced an increase in food insecurity, making them more vulnerable to negative health outcomes.[2] Unfortunately, during the same time UCCE educators in Santa Barbara County experienced a decrease in K-6th grade classroom teachers being able to partner to provide nutrition and physical activity support, limiting access to important resources and information on diet and exercise habits that promote healthy living.[3-4]

How UC Delivers

Working closely with school partners, UCCE educators pivoted programming to meet the needs of school communities to promote health and increased the total number of enrolled classes by 53% compared to the start of the 2020-21 school year.

Specifically, three SMBSD P.E. Specialists expressed interest in signing up as program extenders for nutrition lessons in their 1st-6th grade P.E classes. This new approach in partnering with P.E. Specialists, instead of focusing on classroom educators to deliver nutrition education, increased the program's overall reach and aided extenders in meeting their nutrition education standards for physical education. UCCE educators adapted the lessons using online learning technologies, incorporating physical activity into each lesson and interactive features such as collaboration boards, drawing, and polls to increase youth participation during each lesson. In addition to lessons, students received recipes and asynchronous assignments to complete. This innovative format allowed students to engage with one another and the material in a variety of ways.

The Impact

All three P.E Specialists expressed interest in continuing the partnership as extenders and felt the lessons were beneficial to their students. Two of the extenders reported the virtual UCCE lessons were easy to integrate into their class schedule and observed that students were actively engaged in the material and activities. Several additionalSMBSD P.E. Specialists expressed further interest in professional development around teaching nutrition curricula and have been provided access to a library of online resources and support from UCCE Educators.

Overall, this partnership resulted in reaching more than 1,000 students across two school sites with quality nutrition education using the Serving UpMyPlate and Up4It! curricula tailored to their grade level. As a result, 59% of 4th-6th grade youth surveyed (n=73) reported that when given a choice they will drink water and 45% reported that when given a choice they will try to engage in more physical activity.

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2018), regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduces the risk of many chronic diseases among children and adults. These outcomes support UCANR's public value of promoting healthy people and communities.

 

“I have learned that in sports drinks, sodas, teas, and coffee that there is a lot of sugar and added sugar into the drinks. I have also learned that it is good to have some type of protein or dairy or anything that is on my plate when you eat.” – Rice Elementary Student (SMBSD)

References:

1.  Ed-Data: Education Data Partnership, Santa Maria-Bonita School District; Accessed on 15 June 2021, http://www.ed-data.org/district/Santa-Barbara/Santa-Maria--Bonita

2.   Wolfson JA, Leung CW. Food Insecurity and COVID-19: Disparities in Early Effects for US Adults. Nutrients. 2020; 12(6):1648. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061648

3.   Pérez-Rodrigo, C., & Aranceta, J. (2001). School-based nutrition education: Lessons learned and new perspectives. Public Health Nutrition, 4(1a), 131-139. doi:10.1079/PHN2000108

4.   Rivera, R. L., Maulding, M. K., & Eicher-Miller, H. A. Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education (SNAP-Ed) on food security and dietary outcomes, Nutrition Reviews, Volume 77, Issue 12, December 2019, Pages 903–921, https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuz013

After participating in UCCE's virtual Family Cook Night series, 60% of parents reported intention to not offer a treat as a reward for eating other foods and 80% would try new strategies for picky eaters, promoting healthy people and communities.

The Issue

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of life, including family, work, and education. The pandemic has exacerbated social inequalities, affected access to education for adults and youth and magnified food insecurity for children and families. Two US COVID-19 Impact Surveys indicated that 34.5% of households with a child ≤ 18 years old and 34.4% of households with children ≤ 12 years old were food insecure by end of April 2020. [2] 

How UC Delivers

As schools remained in distance learning, CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE in Santa Barbara County worked closely with principals and partners at two elementary schools to find innovative ways to support the health of youth and families during these unprecedented times. Meeting virtually with partners and youth, UCCE educators realized a need for programming that involved the whole family.

UCCE educators hosted two 4-class series of evening classes via Zoom with school leadership to meet this need. Families signed up through their respective schools and got access to the virtual classrooms through school computers and district Zoom rooms. Using the Healthy, Happy Families curriculum, the families learned about topics that promote healthful behaviors. These included how to involve youth in cooking and meal preparation and using words instead of food to praise positive behavior. Families also learned basic nutrition, food safety, and the current USDA dietary guidelines. Throughout each lesson, UCCE educators encouraged families to include their children in the cooking process by demonstrating tasks appropriate for varying levels of child development.

UCCE educators continued to strengthen partnerships with Santa Barbara Food Bank (SBFB), extenders, youth, and families in Santa Barbara County. Families utilized resources available in their homes and supplemental materials provided by the SBFB and UCCE staff. Educators created dynamic lessons that provided families with the opportunity to openly share their experiences, thoughts, and welcomed participation from all family members, including fathers and male guardians. Participation from men in these classes promoted gender equality, an essential step towards addressing the double burden of unpaid caretaking work that disproportionately impacts the health and well-being of women. [4] 

 

The Impact

After attending the classes, adult participants shared that they changed their approach to feeding their children to promote healthful behaviors. Pre- and post-course survey (n=64) results indicated that the proportion of parents or guardians who would not offer a treat as a reward for eating other foods increased from 36% to 60%. Additionally, the proportion of parents or guardians who indicated that they would offer food to their child rejected more than once increased from 36% to 80%. Overall, the Family Cook Nights Series was impactful, educators and families practiced cooking healthy recipes, promoted gender equality, and changed feeding habits to encourage healthful behaviors.

According to Jensen (2020), “besides a direct relation with higher intake of unhealthy foods, frequent use of food as a reward may also increase the risk of being overweight through long-term effects on eating behavior”. [3] This intervention fostered healthy behaviors as part of the UC ANR's commitment to promoting healthy people and communities.

When asked about the class series, one school principal remarked: "Our families enjoyed it and had fun. Cooking is community building. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of the food bank and CalFresh." -Liberty Elementary School Principal

Sources:
1. Nalita James, Virginie Thériault. (2021) Reimagining community and belonging amid COVID-19. Studies in the Education of Adults 53:1, pages 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2020.1811474
2. Bauer L. The COVID-19 crisis has already left too many children hungry in America. 2020. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/05/06/the-covid-19-crisis-has-already-left-too-many-children-hungry-in-america/. Accessed June 18, 2021
3. Jansen PW, Derks IPM, Mou Y, et al.Associations of parents' use of food as reward with children's eating behaviour and BMI in a population-based cohort. Pediatric Obesity. 2020;15:e12662.https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.1266210 of 10 JANSEN ET AL.
4. Kate Power (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the care burden of women and families, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 16:1, 67-73, https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561

 

UCCE and CFHL, UC collaborated with the Torres Martinez Native American community on health and wellness goals and increasing access to produce for 1,600 families, contributing to UC ANR's public values of safeguarding abundant, healthy food and developing an equitable society.

The Issue

Native American communities have experienced historical trauma that has had devastating effects on health: Over 60 reservations across the United States are considered to be food deserts; Native American households are 400% more likely to experience food insecurity; they also experience 1.7 times the rate of diagnosed diabetes (15.0% compared with 8.6% for all U.S. adults) and endured a mortality rate 1.8 times higher than non-hispanic whites during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Building trust in communities that have experienced trauma takes time. Ongoing communication with local leaders and members is necessary to ensure that solutions to address health disparities are community-led and meet community needs.

How UC Delivers

The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Riverside County, in coordination with CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California (CFHL, UC), have been working collaboratively with the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe since 2018 to advance sustainable community health initiatives that can foster positive health outcomes.

Since special project funding is often needed to allow flexibility in program implementation, the Nutrition, Family and Consumer Sciences Advisor has worked with the Torres Martinez Tribal Leadership and tribal grant department to acquire funding to pursue healthy community development. This collaboration has resulted in three grants focusing on different aspects of health activities:

1) USDA/CDSS through Public Health Institute to implement a tribal youth participatory action research (YPAR) project;
2) USDA Farm to School Planning Grant to explore a farm to school partnership with Coachella Valley Unified; and
3) CDC ACORNS funding from California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB) to facilitate discussions around tribal community's interest in food sovereignty.

These projects provided the tribe with resources from within UC, including a UCCE farm advisor, CFHL nutrition educators, a UC Davis Center for Regional Change trainer, and key partnerships with funding organizations to increase capacity and foster community engagement.

 

The Impact

This multi-sector collaboration is generating interest in community health that leads to organizational behavior change:

1) The YPAR project engaged 11 youth ages 12-17 in an exploration of the community food environment and raised questions about low availability of healthy foods. The YPAR project contributed to the Tribe's decision to reinstate the Tribal Youth Council, which incorporates youth feedback in the design of community programs.

2) An intergenerational group of tribal members participated in the vegetable planting in the A'Avutem (elders) garden. Forty tribal members participated in the UCCE led farm tour, and over 20 youth participated in the CFHL, UCCE led education about farm to school. One tribal member remarked:

The tour made me see how the tribe can benefit from an organic farm and I see many opportunities especially for organic farming which will play an important role in agriculture of the future.

3) During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tribal Council led efforts to increase access to healthy food by distributing 1,600 USDA Farmers to Families Produce Boxes to 400 tribal families and the surrounding community. Finally, the Tribe has recently formed a 9-member Community Wellness Committee to guide the ACORNS project.

Through this partnership, CFHL, UCCE in Riverside demonstrates UC ANR's commitment to abundant, healthy food for all Californians and developing a more inclusive and equitable society for all.