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Impact Report

For plan KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior (Lea County)
Date October 27, 2011, 4:29 pm
For Objective Short-term Show short-term objectives
Impact Report General nutrition education is a continuing effort in Lea County throughout the year. The county residents continually request information from the extension service on a variety of topics from recipes to food preservation to general nutrition to food safety issues. The information is disseminated to the county residents through news paper articles, newsletter articles, New Mexico State University Bulletins and programs in the local civic clubs, schools, parent organizations and the Lea County Extension Homemakers membership. In the last year several programs have been given to the public, as well as the extension homemaker members. Community-wide Programs: Community wide programming is done on an as needed basis. Agencies, schools, civic clubs, and health centers call upon the home economist to present programs for certifications, general information purposes or professional opinions. Throughout the last year the following programming has been accomplished: • Certification in food safety was needed for county senior center food service employees. The employees from the Hobbs, Eunice and Jal Senior Centers attended a presentation on food safety in the work place. Each participant received a certificate for 2 hours of training. • Health Fairs were done for the Hobbs Senior Center and the Jal Health Clinic. A presentation on Calcium was done for the Hobbs Senior Center. Individuals who stopped at the booth were given information on calcium levels in your body as you age, how to choose a supplement and good food sources of calcium. The Jal Health Fair was a community event, with the majority of the participants coming from the schools. Participants who stopped at the booth were given information on portion control and serving sizes. Amounts of fats, salt and sugar displayed for common foods that school age youth enjoy. • As a way to provide nutritionally sound food to the patients and employees of Nor Lea General Hospital in Lovington, the home economist was asked to sit in on a food tasting panel for the head chef. As a part of the panel, we tasted various sauces and communicated with the chef on ways the sauces could be used for patients and the daily lunch menus. The labels were also consulted for amounts of fat, sodium and sugar. • A presentation for Tatum Kindergarten parents was done on Feeding Healthy Families. Information was presented to the parents on general meal planning, portion control, nutritious snacks, and using processed foods in daily meals. Most of the parents in attendance had young children and worked full time. • As a part of the Jal Health Clinic’s yearly breast cancer awareness campaign, the home economist was asked to be a guest speaker at a luncheon. The participants in the luncheon were given a program on “Functional Foods”. The functional foods information provided the participants with research based health claims on various foods from flax seed to garlic. • As a new attraction to the Lea County Fair, a cook off was coordinated by the home economist and fair board members. The cook off was designed to have four (4) different categories: homemade ice cream, pecan recipes, chocolate recipes, and salsa. Members from the county participated in the cook offs throughout the week, with “celebrities” from the county judging the event. Approximately, 20 entries were showcased in the cook offs. As a result of the community-wide programs: • 90% of the senior center food service staff was certified in food safety for a year. Each of the food service employees gained a better understanding of why they must keep foods at the proper temperature to avoid food borne illnesses. • 85% of the senior center food service staff will work to avoid cross contaminating the foods that they serve to the senior population of Hobbs, Eunice and Jal. • 50% of the youth that visited the Jal Health Fair, are aware of the amount of sugar, fat and salt that can be found in the foods they eat regularly. • 70% of the senior citizens that visited the Hobbs Senior Center Health Fair discovered that they have been getting calcium in their diets from foods they ate every day, without knowing it. • More nutritious meals will be planned and served to the employees and patients of Nor Lea General Hospital based on the recommendations from the food tasting panel. • 30% of the parents in Tatum, who attended the presentation will be planning and feeding their children a nutritious family style meal. • The women who attended the Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon have a better knowledge of the foods they can add to their diet for added health benefit. • Residents in the county, become familiar with the Lea County Extension Service through the fair cook off completions.