Nutrición en Español: Nutrition Education for Spanish-speaking Families
BASICS Grant Enables Spanish-speaking Families in to Receive ISU Extension Nutrition Education
Patricia Steiner and Shirlee Werner

Problem:
The Family Nutrition Program in Louisa County is available for English-speaking families to learn how to feed their families in a safe and healthy way. However, Louisa County has a high percentage of Hispanics - many of whom are not yet fluent in English. There is a need for a bilingual educator to teach lessons in Spanish from Extension's nutrition curriculum.

Response:
Through a BASICS grant, a bilingual educator was hired to teach lessons in nutrition, food safety and physical activity. From March to June 2004, she taught four lessons to twelve Spanish-speaking adults. The lessons were the food guide pyramid, importance of eating fruits and vegetables, food safety practices and importance of physical activity. She also taught the food guide pyramid lesson to an additional 28 Spanish-speaking men and women.

Impact:
After participating in the lesson teaching awareness and comprehension of the Food Guide Pyramid, 92% of the adults surveyed (12) could correctly name all five food groups. We asked how often they thought about healthy food choices, when deciding what to feed their family. Before the lesson, only 8% said "most of the time;" but, after the lesson, 42% said "most of the time."

By increasing exposure to new fruits and vegetables and teaching the importance of adding them to the diet, we hoped families would plan meals and snacks that included five servings of fruits and/or vegetables. The question was asked: “How often do you plan meals and snacks that include five servings of fruits and/or vegetables?” Before the lesson, 92% said "seldom;" after the lesson, 83% said "most of the time."

Handling food safely in the home is a concern. After teaching the importance of food safety, we found that 83% said they almost always wash hands before preparing foods. But before the lesson, the same percentage (83%) said they seldom did. Before this lesson, 67% said most of the time they let meat set out more than two hours, and 50% said most of the time they thawed frozen foods at room temperature. However, after this lesson 67% said they do not do either of these unsafe practices anymore.

After providing education on the benefits and obstacles to increasing physical activity, we hoped adults would identify a plan for increasing personal physical activity. We asked: “How often do you participate in physical activity 30 minutes or more a day?” Before: 17% "do not do" and 83% "seldom." And after: 92% "sometimes" and 8% "most of the time."

Providing a bilingual nutrition educator for this population is a critical need.

Contact:
Patricia Steiner         
Nutrition & Health Field Specialist
Iowa State University Extension
900 Osborn Street, Burlington IA 52601   
Phone 319/754-7556; FAX 319/754-6721
Email psteiner@iastate.edu

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