Social Ecological Model for Community and Home-based Nutrition Education

描述(申请人提供)：饮食模式的显著变化和体力活动的减少将美国儿童中的肥胖率推高到流行的程度；低收入和少数族裔家庭特别容易受到影响肥胖症的社会经济障碍的影响，其中拉美裔人口受到的影响最严重。拟议的互动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、社区护理环境以及国家和地方媒体的强大影响力之间的相互联系，改变在服务不足、语言孤立的社区预防肥胖症的范例。这些层面的影响构成了社会生态模型(SEM)，本提案利用该模型作为框架来探讨影响儿童营养知识、态度和行为的多种因素之间的联系。通过同时在(I)低收入家庭家庭、(Ii)社区组织(如Head Start教室)和(Iii)通过公共电视同时使用互动教育媒体和活动，拟议的沉浸式计划承诺提供营养教育机会，增强儿童关于健康话题的沟通能力，并促进代际沟通，以培养整个家庭持续的健康饮食习惯。 与公共健康相关：近年来，超重和肥胖在美国儿童中的流行已经达到流行病的程度，成为美国一个突出的公共卫生问题；此外，研究表明，其不利影响在拉美裔社区尤为突出，因为拉美裔社区的肥胖率是所有种族/民族中最高的。拟议的多层次干预旨在通过利用媒体提供健康教育，同时加强儿童、父母和社区成员之间的沟通，来影响行为改变。这一建议的有效实施可能带来几个好处，包括：(I)减少服务不足和/或英语水平有限的社区之间的健康差距，(Ii)提高语言不协调家庭的沟通能力，改善成人与其子女之间围绕健康相关问题的对话，以及(Iii)建立专门针对服务不足的少数群体的健康促进干预措施的新的和增强的范例。

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.