Developing a Nutrition Tool for Navajo Families Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, Mark C Bauer, Shirleen Phillips-Benally, Julia Roanhorse.

Background: There are few nutrition education tools available for use in outreach programs for Navajo families. The two primary guidelines for nutrition recommendations are the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These two guides are not easily understood nor utilized among Navajo people. Methods: This project, funded by the USDA at the Shiprock Campus of Diné College, conducted a series of focus group interviews with parents of preschool children on the issues they face in providing nutritious meals for their children. Additional focus groups were conducted with staff of preschool programs (WIC and Head Start) regarding issues they face in providing nutrition education to families. Atlas Ti qualitative software was used to analyze the data from interviews. The range and content of responses received to the open-ended questions are being analyzed to determine the best design for an effective education tool. Results: Coding categories that emerged in analysis include barriers and enablers of healthful nutrition behavior, subdivided into issues of availability and preference for different kinds of food, time, knowledge, control and habits. Conclusions: This input on nutrition issues from the parents and program staff will be shared with agencies and programs providing nutrition education to Navajo families and efforts will be made to achieve consensus on unique educational messages and approaches that can promote healthful nutrition opportunities for this population.

For Further information: Leslie Cunningham-Sabo, PhD, RD, ldcunningham-sabo@salud.unm.edu; 272.4462