Development of a Nutrition Education Tool for Navajo Families

Development of a Nutrition Education Tool for Navajo Families

Principal Investigator: Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, PhD
Coordinator: Shirley Pareo, M.S.
Start and End Dates: 09/01/02– 08/31/05
Sources of Funding: U.S. Department of Agriculture, subaward with Diné College

Development of a Nutrition Education Tool for Navajo Families was a project designed to identify culturally relevant nutrition education resources and strategies for Navajo parents and educators of young children, and from these design a tool or program. The proposal was developed in response to requests from staff and parents of Head Start students in the North-Central area of the Navajo Nation to assist parents in making wise food choices for their families. A previous study collected dietary intake and behavior information for 70 pairs of parents and children participating in the Navajo Head Start program (unpublished report). Twenty-four hour dietary recall results indicated that a majority of the children consumed more than recommended calorie levels, and height and weight data indicated that 17% of children were above the 95 th percentile for Body Mass Index for their age and gender. Despite most parents participating in either or both the Head Start and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Program – both of which have a strong nutrition education component – only half of parent respondents reported receiving nutrition education information with just under half reported using this information they were provided. Encouragingly, nearly 80% (56 of 70 interviewees) reported they were indeed interested in learning more about nutrition.

Once this follow-up project was initiated, an advisory committee was convened to guide the creation of focus group interviews and use resultant information to develop a nutrition education tool for Navajo parents and early childhood educators. Committee members represented local tribal and Indian Health Service health and education programs targeting preschool children and their families, as well as university faculty and staff from the tribal college, a large public university, and the state’s land grant institution. Focus group interviews with parents and early childhood education paraprofessionals were planned and conducted to identify and determine contributors to both healthful and unhealthful food ways for Navajo preschoolers. Preliminary results from these focus group interviews were then presented to the project advisory committee and to attendees of a local research conference for their reactions and responses. The results of this project are included in a manuscript currently under review by the Journal of Maternal and Child Health.

For more information about this program, please contact Dr. Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, (505) 272-4462 or LDCunningham-Sabo@salud.unm.edu