Nutrition education to low-income families can help them make better and healthier food choices.
Children from low income families who attended nutrition education programs made healthier food choices. They increased their intake of food and vegetables from a quarter to one-third cup, according to a press release. They were also more likely to choose low-fat or fat free milk over normal milk. Elders who participated in these programs also benefited, increasing their fruits and vegetable intake by more than half a cup.
"One of the most important findings from this study is that families want to eat healthy foods, even if they have limited resources," said Altarum Institute's Loren Bell, the study's project director. "Education efforts that help individuals and families make healthy food choices are clearly an important part of our overall health, and can make a big difference for families with young children all the way to our senior citizens."
The findings were an evaluation of three Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) programs in three different states. Two of these programs provided nutrition education to low-income elementary-aged children in schools, including activities and take home materials. The content of both programs was received in a positive manner by all participating candidates. Content was found to be more effective when different teaching methods were implemented and low-income parents were taught to provide healthy food to children, even in a limited budget.
The third program, which educated only adults aged 60 to 80 belonging to low-income families, found that those that completed take-home activities adopted healthy eating habits more. Such participants were also more engaged in group discussions conducted during the program.
"The results of this study reiterate the critical role of nutrition education and promotion in improving the healthfulness of SNAP purchases," said USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon. "USDA and our partners continue to explore a wide-ranging set of strategies that support families as they purchase, prepare and eat more healthy foods."
