scholarly journals Community-Based Medical Student Nutrition Counseling Training for Low-Income Families

PRiMER ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy S. Williams ◽  
Pooja M. Patel ◽  
Nathan L. Beucke ◽  
Richelle J. Koopman
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Child Obesity ◽  
Nutrition Counseling ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Low Income Families

Background and Objectives: Physician nutrition counseling has become increasingly important due to increases in child and adult obesity. However, medical student education on nutrition counseling, especially for low-income families, is insufficient. Methods: Eat Healthy, Stay Active! (EHSA) is a community-based child obesity program that provided experiential learning for medical students to counsel low-income Head Start families about nutrition. The authors conducted a focus group to explore medical students’ opinions about the proficiency of their nutrition education skills, especially in low-income families, and the role of EHSA. The authors also surveyed students about their self-confidence in providing low-income families with nutrition counseling. Results: Most students reported a favorable overall impression of EHSA with a mean score of 7 on a 10-point scale (1=poor experience, 10=very positive experience) and 70% reporting they would recommend EHSA to their classmates. They also reported a significant (80%, P< 0.0001) increase in their confidence of counseling patients about child obesity after participating in EHSA. In focus groups, students felt that EHSA improved their nutrition knowledge and helped them to understand barriers of low-income families for healthy nutrition. Conclusions: Students participating in EHSA, a novel, community-based, experiential learning project, gained self-confidence in providing nutrition counseling to low-income families. The program also positively impacted medical student personal opinions of low-income families by providing a personal reference for low-income struggles.

scholarly journals Holiday Club Programmes in Northern Ireland: The Voices of Children and Young People

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1337
Author(s):  
Jackie Shinwell ◽  
Ellen Finlay ◽  
Caitlin Allen ◽  
Margaret Anne Defeyter
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Young People ◽  
School Children ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
High Level

In Northern Ireland, nearly 30% of children are thought to be at risk of going hungry in the summer holidays when they are unable to access free school meals. Community groups, voluntary groups, local authorities, and faith groups have responded to this concern by developing and delivering holiday programmes that enable children from low-income families to take part in activities and access food. The current study used purposive sampling to investigate children’s and young people’s views of holiday provision, from across three holiday clubs, in Northern Ireland. Both primary school children (n = 34; aged 4–11) and secondary school children (n = 31; aged 12–17) showed high levels of awareness of poverty and food insecurity and associated pressures and stresses on households. Importantly, children and young people did not feel stigmatised about attending holiday provision, suggesting a positive and inclusive culture towards holiday club attendance. Children reported that they enjoyed the range of activities provided at holiday clubs and reported that attendance improved their self-confidence, especially for some older children, who acted as peer mentors to younger attendees, helped them to develop new skills, and provided them with opportunities to socialise with peers in a safe environment, out with their normal social groupings in school. Older children showed a high level of shrewdness and knowledge of sectarian divides in communities but spoke positively about how different religious or cultural backgrounds did not matter in terms of meeting and making new friends in holiday club settings. In terms of food provision, the findings of this study suggest that further work needs to be done to support children to access and eat healthy, nutritious food.

Culinary Medicine Training in Core Medical School Curriculum Improved Medical Student Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence in Providing Nutrition Counseling

2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110217
Author(s):  
Christopher R. D’Adamo ◽  
Kayli Workman ◽  
Christine Barnabic ◽  
Norman Retener ◽  
Bernadette Siaton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Nutrition Knowledge ◽  
Medical School Curriculum ◽  
Nutrition Counseling ◽  
Patient Counseling ◽  
Culinary Medicine

Background: Elective culinary medicine education has become popular to help fill important gaps in physician nutrition training. The implementation and outcomes among the inaugural cohort of medical students who received culinary medicine training as a required component of medical school curriculum at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are described. Methods: Following a series of elective pilot sessions, culinary medicine training was provided to all first-year medical students in the 2019-2020 academic year. The 3-hour training included evidence-based nutrition lecture, cooking simple recipes, and group discussion of the application to personal and patient care. Pre-/postsession questionnaires assessed nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes as well as nutritional counseling confidence. Paired t-tests estimated mean differences in outcomes pre- and posttraining. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Overall, 119 of 125 (95.2%) students provided pre- and posttraining outcomes data. All nutritional and patient counseling outcomes improved ( P < .05). Themes of being better prepared to address healthy eating barriers in patient care and personal ability to make healthy dietary changes were noted in qualitative analysis. Conclusion: One session of culinary medicine training in core medical student curriculum was feasible and improved medical student nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes and confidence in patient nutrition counseling.

scholarly journals Mobile Phone Apps for Low-Income Participants in a Public Health Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Review and Analysis of Features (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Summer J Weber ◽  
Daniela Dawson ◽  
Haley Greene ◽  
Pamela C Hull
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
Nutrition Program ◽  
User Reviews ◽  
User Input ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Electronic Benefits Transfer

BACKGROUND Since 1972, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has been proven to improve the health of participating low-income women and children in the United States. Despite positive nutritional outcomes associated with WIC, the program needs updated tools to help future generations. Improving technology in federal nutrition programs is crucial for keeping nutrition resources accessible and easy for low-income families to use. OBJECTIVE This review aimed to analyze the main features of publicly available mobile phone apps for WIC participants. METHODS Keyword searches were performed in the app stores for the 2 most commonly used mobile phone operating systems between December 2017 and June 2018. Apps were included if they were relevant to WIC and excluded if the target users were not WIC participants. App features were reviewed and classified according to type and function. User reviews from the app stores were examined, including ratings and categorization of user review comments. RESULTS A total of 17 apps met selection criteria. Most apps (n=12) contained features that required verified access available only to WIC participants. Apps features were classified into categories: (1) shopping management (eg, finding and redeeming food benefits), (2) clinic appointment management (eg, appointment reminders and scheduling), (3) informational resources (eg, recipes, general food list, tips about how to use WIC, links to other resources), (4) WIC-required nutrition education modules, and (5) other user input. Positive user reviews indicated that apps with shopping management features were very useful. CONCLUSIONS WIC apps are becoming increasingly prevalent, especially in states that have implemented electronic benefits transfer for WIC. This review offers new contributions to the literature and practice, as practitioners, software developers, and health researchers seek to improve and expand technology in the program.

Nutritional Status of Pre-School Children from Urban Low Income Families

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
R. V. Lakshmi ◽  
M. Sylvia Subapriya ◽  
Kalaivani Krishnamurthy ◽  
Prema Ramachandran
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
School Children ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Height For Age ◽  
Weight For Age

India is currently the home of the largest number of under-nourished and over-nourished children in the world. Data from longitudinal studies in India indicate that both under nutrition and over-nutrition in childhood is associated with higher risk of over-nutrition and noncommunicable diseases in adult life. A community based mixed longitudinal study of underfive children from urban low income families was taken up to assess their nutritional status. Weight was taken every month in all; length was measured every month in infants and height was measured once in three months in 1-5 year children. BMI was computed in all. Nutritional status was assessed using the WHO anthro software package. Between 2012 and 2015, 3888 pre-school children were enrolled (49.4% boys and 50.6% girls); mean age of these children at enrolment was 22.5±16.17 months. The mean Z scores for height for age was - 1.79; weight for age was - 1.41 and -0.47 for BMI for age. Prevalence of stunting was 43.4%; underweight was 31.9%, wasting was 12% and over-nutrition was between 3-5%. The reduction in wasting rate between 0-3 years was mainly due to the increase in prevalence of stunting. With universal screening for early detection of wasting and over-nutrition and effective management of these, it will be possible to achieve the WHA targets of reducing and maintaining wasting below 5% and preventing increase in over-nutrition in this population. This may reduce the risk of over-nutrition and non-communicable diseases in these children during their adult life.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document