Nutrition Education to Improve Dietary Intake and Micronutrient Nutriture among Children in Less-Resourced Areas: a Randomised Controlled Intervention in Kabarole District; Western Uganda

Objective: To determine whether nutrition education targeting the child-feeding practices of low- income rural caregivers will reduce anaemia and improve vitamin A nutriture of the young children in their care.Design: A controlled intervention trial; based on experiential learning theory. Forty-six women completed a nine-session nutrition education programme; while controls (n = 43) concurrently engaged in sewing classes.Setting: Two rural farming communities in the Kabarole district; western Uganda.Subjects: Less literate; low-income rural female caregivers and the children in their care (6-48 months).Outcome measures: Caregivers' child-feeding practices and the children's nutritional status were assessed at baseline; one month after intervention (Follow-up 1) and one year from baseline (Follow-up 2).Results: Caregivers in the intervention group reported improved child snacking patterns; food-selection practices; meal adequacy; and food variety. Children in the intervention group recorded lower haemoglobin levels at baseline (9.86 vs. 10.70 g/dl) and caught up with controls at Follow-up 1 (10.06 vs. 10.78 g/dl). However; changes were not sustained. Mean retinol-binding protein improved from 0.68 ?mol/l (95 CI: 0.57-0.78) to 0.91 ?mol/l (95 CI: 0.78-1.03) among intervention children; but remained approximately the same in controls. Vitamin A nutriture was influenced by infections.Conclusion: Nutrition education significantly improved feeding practices and children's nutritional status. The effectiveness and sustainability of this programme can be enhanced if nutrition education is integrated into other food-production and public health programmes

Development of a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention for low-income, urban, African American adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Childhood overweight is disproportionately worse in minority and low-income populations. Theater is a promising and effective tool for delivering health education to these underserved populations, but no known studies have examined the use of theater to promote both nutrition and physical activity to minority youth. OBJECTIVE: To develop an interactive, theater-based intervention that conveys health messages to low-income, urban, African Americans and engages them in learning ways to adopt a healthy lifestyle. METHODS: Community partners worked to develop a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention. A focus group provided urban adolescents' thoughts about their desires for the intervention. Based on input from all community partners, the group created a theater-based intervention. Researchers used a quasi-experimental (pre-/posttest) design with a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Participants learned health messages through theater, dance, and music and gave feedback on the program sessions and materials. The program ended with a dinner theater performance showcasing information that students learned during the intervention. RESULTS: Participants received six theater-based health lessons. Learning objectives for each health education session were achieved. Each participant contributed to and performed in the final performance. All program participants were highly satisfied with the theater-based method of learning health messages. CONCLUSION: A community-academic partnership succeeded in developing a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention that satisfied participating adolescents.

Relationships and CHD risks of BMI, lipoproteins, lipids, and blood pressure in African-American men and women.

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is believed to be associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) risks. A major question is whether each BMI category provides independent risk information and whether the BMI categories provide similar results for African-American (AA) men and women relative to lipid, lipoproteins, and blood pressure. METHODS: A descriptive research design was used to evaluate the effects of BMI categories on lipoproteins, lipids, and blood pressure, and to determine if similar CHD risks related to these variables were observed in AA men and women. The 358 (108 men and 250 women; 40-70 year of age) participants were recruited from churches in a southeastern metropolitan area. RESULTS: The results indicate that BMI is positively associated with lipoproteins, lipids, and blood pressure in both AA men and women. Relative risks for CHD were higher for obese (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)) men and women, but the overweight (OW) category provided the same information as the normal weight (NW) category for men, but not for women. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that the same BMI standards provide different CHD risk information for AA men than for AA women and that gender-specific BMI standards may be warranted for more effective CHD risk stratification in AA adults.