Social Ecological Model for Community and Home-based Nutrition Education

描述（由申请人提供）：饮食模式的显著变化和体育活动的减少使美国儿童肥胖的流行率达到流行病的程度；低收入和少数族裔家庭尤其容易受到影响肥胖的社会经济障碍的影响，拉丁裔人口受到的影响最为严重。拟议的互动式双语儿童营养教育课程独特地填补了代际健康教育的空白，并有能力通过关注家庭、社区护理环境之间的相互联系以及国家和地方媒体的强大影响力，改变服务不足、语言孤立社区的肥胖预防模式。这些影响层构成了社会生态模型（SEM），本提案利用该模型作为框架来探索对儿童营养知识、态度和行为的多重影响之间的联系。通过在(1)低收入家庭、(2)以社区为基础的组织（如Head Start教室）和(3)通过公共电视同时使用互动式教育媒体和活动，提议的沉浸式计划承诺提供营养教育的机会，提高儿童关于健康主题的沟通能力，促进代际交流，以培养整个家庭持续健康的饮食习惯。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Striking changes in dietary patterns and decreases in physical activity have driven the prevalence of obesity among American children to epidemic proportions; low-income and ethnic minority families are especially vulnerable to the socio-economic barriers that influence obesity, with Latino populations being the most severely affected. The proposed interactive, bilingual children's nutrition education curriculum is uniquely poised to fill the gaps in intergenerational health education and has the capacity to change the paradigm of obesity prevention in underserved, linguistically isolated communities through its attention to the interconnected relationships among the family, community-based care settings, and the powerful weight of national and local media. These layers of influence comprise the social ecological model (SEM), which this proposal utilizes as a framework to explore the linkages among the multiple influences on children's nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Through the concurrent use of interactive, educational media and activities in (i) low-income family homes, (ii) community-based organizations such as Head Start classrooms, and (iii) through public television, the proposed immersive program promises to provide exposure to nutrition education, enhance children's communication abilities regarding health topics, and promote intergenerational communication to foster sustained healthy dietary habits for the entire family. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In recent years, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among American children has reached epidemic proportions and become a prominent public health issue in the United States; moreover, studies have shown that its adverse impacts are particularly salient in Latino communities, which display the highest rates of obesity among any racial/ethnic group. The proposed multi-level intervention is designed to affect behavior change by utilizing media to deliver health education while bolstering communication among children, parents, and community members. Several benefits may result from the effective implementation of this proposal, including (i) the reduction of health disparities among the underserved and/or communities with limited English proficiency, (ii) the elevation of communicative competence in linguistically-discordant families to improve dialogue between adults and their children around health-related issues, and (iii) the establishment of a new and enhanced paradigm for health promotion interventions designed specifically for underserved minority populations.