Family caregivers play a critical role in dietary care and the nutritional status of people with dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a family care-based dementia dietary educational program (DDEP) on family caregivers' nutritional knowledge, healthy eating behavior and nutritional status of people with dementia. A…

The well-being of Texas children is essential to the future of our state. Recent years have presented significant challenges for Texas' youngest residents, particularly in areas of economic stability, health, and education. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas declined from 43rd to 45th in national rankings for overall child…

Low-income families experience many barriers to purchasing and preparing healthful foods. To help address some of these barriers, a team created a family-based cooking class, Healthy All Together, in which participants learn strategies for how to stretch their food dollars and feed their families healthful meals. In this article, we describe the…

Lack of treatment fidelity can be an important source of variation affecting the credibility and utility of outcomes from behavioral intervention research. Development and implementation of a well-designed treatment fidelity plan, especially with research involving underserved populations, requires careful conceptualization of study needs in…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first federal nutrition education program for low-income populations. Without question, accelerating equity in programming has long been a priority of EFNEP. Historically underserved populations with limited financial resources are often people of color and at increased risk…

Fresh Produce, Fresh Start was a pilot farm to family study which tested the effectiveness of a local produce delivery program on dietary intake of Head Start participants. Utilizing a pre-test/post-test design, measures collected from Head Start parents included 24-hour recall of dietary intake, height and weight, and a food security…

A family history of neural tube defects (NTDs) can increase the risk of a pregnancy affected by an NTD. Periconceptional folic acid use decreases this risk. Purpose: Our objective was to determine whether second-degree relatives of NTD-affected children showed differences in folic acid use compared with the general population and to provide them…

Since 1969, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) has improved the diets and food-related behaviors of program participants. Each year EFNEP enrolls more than half a million new program participants. In 2010, EFNEP reached 137,814 adults and 463,530 youth directly and nearly 400,000 family members indirectly. This paper…

Objective: To identify barriers to and facilitators of healthful eating and physical activity in low-income schools as perceived by school-affiliated staff. Methods: Perceptions of barriers and facilitators were measured in low-income schools through two online surveys (Kindergarten-8th grade and high school). Sixty-nine (Kindergarten-8th grade)…

Background: Obesity is a public health concern that disproportionately affects underserved and minority communities. Purpose: To evaluate whether a comprehensive obesity prevention program that targets children and school staff in an underserved Hispanic community affects obesity related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among both students and…

"Food insecurity," which is the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times because of economic constraints, afflicts 40.6% of low-income households with children. Research shows that living in a food-insecure household can lead to negative health and developmental consequences for young children, including obesity.…

Objective: To describe the effects of a controlled family-based health education/counseling intervention on health behaviors of children with a familial history of cardiovascular diseases (FH-CVDs). Methods: The intervention group (IG, n=432) received 5 counseling sessions. The control groups 1 (CG1, n=200) and 2 (CG2, n=423) received no…