KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior

Paula Roybal Sanchez has signed on to support KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior within Los Alamos County.

Glenda A. Belcher has signed on to support KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior within Curry County.

Home Economist brand new to Job 08-06. Year concentrated on building agency and community liaisons as well as overseeing existing ICAN Nutrition Program, Extension Association Clubs, Home Ec related 4-H ties, etc.

Kitchen Creations: As of this date 3 series completed, 4 sessions each. February 06 class conducted in Silver City, Co-op Extension Service meeting room every Saturday 10 am - 2 pm. This class received great interest since there had been no classes for nearly 2 years due to previous Home Economist retirement. 36 individuals pre-registered, and 26 completed the series. 100% stated that the series had been helpful to them, and that they would implement nutrition changes in their diets and those of their families. Many of the participants have attended the diabetes classes conducted by area Certified Diabetes Educators through Gila Regional Medical Center and Hidalgo Medical Services "La Vida" (Life Styles and Values Impact Diabetes Awareness) programs.

Majority of participants stated on their evaluations of each session (and the overall) that the information given during the Kitchen Creations classes connected the information given in the above mentioned classes in a very practical way. We could see light bulbs coming on! I continue to see these class participants throughout the community and they continue to report how they're doing or inquire about the next class or materials for other friends or family members. This was a good cross section of community population.

The second Kitchen Creation series was a trial down in Hidalgo County. I participated in it as a courtesy and further learning experience. The CDI and I traveled down 45 minutes each way (ON MY OWN TIME, SINCE IT'S NOT MY COUNTY). This liaison is paying off with upcoming local TV shows (4 scheduled with Grant County Health Council grant funded) to be filmed around the KC nutrition format. In addition, I will be a guest on both radio (Spanish station) and TV morning show discussing nutrition holiday tips.

The Lordsburg class was not very representative of their community. Of the 12 who signed up, only 7 attended and of those 5 were White Caucasian Female. This community’s real need is with the predominant Hispanic culture and their incidence of diabetes. The HMS headquarter office actually is in Lordsburg, but several community events may well have affected our attendance and response. We scheduled it at the end of May overlapping into the first two weeks of June and their also had been two teen suicides at the high school during our first week. These events and the timing were not good. The HMS promotora's were also in transition in the community and therefore I feel we lacked their "buy in" as they were brand new and just trying to earn their own viability.

KC Bayard, New Mexico: 36 pre-registered, great cross section of population. Average participation in all four sessions is 22. We conducted two sessions in Sept and then skipped one week due to county fair, and picked up the last two in October. Breaks in the session are difficult and it appears we need to block four weeks in a row, as evidenced by the February classes. I'm entertaining the idea that Saturday's may work better than weekday evening classes as well, particularly in the winter months.

Agency liaisons with HMS also granted me contact with an annual "las Mujeres" program they conduct in Bayard. June 23, 2007 the event was held, contacts were 87, 54 Hispanic females, 18 Hispanic male, 12 Anglo females, 3 Anglo males. My presentation was demonstrating their lunch preparation with a lo-carb tortilla turkey avocado wrap which each one prepared at their tables. (Groceries supplied by HMS, and I prepped the onions, grouped the tables, etc.)



Home Economist did participate in the 06 Grant County Fair, as well as the 07 Fair. 06 a booth display was set up and manned regarding "What does 65 lbs. of sugar have to do with you" visual realities of amounts of sugar in soft drinks. 07 county fair, ICAN demonstrated fresh salsa's and their nutritional qualities and uses.

This topic on hazards of sugar and soft drinks was presented to various groups throughout the year and it was received with positive comments. I also see many of these audience members and they relay the message that they've "cut down" or "cut out" sodas. Other nutrition messages such as "Label Fables" were carried to several groups formally and also informally in settings such as the local Farmer's Market, whereby our office presented a united front with 5 appearances throughout the summer with pertinent info for available items at the market. Total signatures for all presentations totaled 373. This also represented a good demographic representation of Grant County. Early June we covered eggs, their nutrition and how to "coddle them" for deviling, July we were available for food preservation information, August we did salsa demos and grilled vegetables and served samples along with recipes, we judged the salsa contest the following weekend, and made one last appearance with "Apples" and pressure canner testing offered. We also are on the agenda with the Harvest Festival at the Mimbres Valley with "last of the season" ideas for green tomatoes, pumpkins, apples, etc. One of the Greatest Impacts was hanging our NMSU Banner, Co-Op Extension Service at the Farmer's Market and receiving questions on "what does NMSU have to do with Extension?" This presented great talking points and also let us know we have our work cut out for us to have the entire county make the connection!



The ICAN Nutrition Program was an interesting year! Both ICAN Educators had been in their positions over 8 years (since the Pilot program) and survived without a home economist for the previous year and a half!

This offered advantages and disadvantages. We also volunteered to be the first county for Linda Wells Management Evaluation! Change and personnel changes were necessary to get us back on track. These issues have been addressed and we are just now (Oct 1) fully re-staffed and ramping up. One Educator who has stayed on is doing great and very excited about her position with NMSU. The numbers for the FY will be forthcoming soon. Next year's numbers and outreach will be phenomenal.

Karim Martinez has signed on to support KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior within Doña Ana County.

Lynne Beam has signed on to support KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior within San Juan County.