Martha Archuleta

Cooking Schools Improve Nutrient Intake Patterns of People with Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine whether cooking classes offered by the Cooperative Extension Service improved nutrient intake patterns in people with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN Quasi-experimental using pretest, posttest comparisons. SETTING Community locations including schools, churches, and senior centers. PARTICIPANTS One hundred seventeen people with type 2 diabetes, from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. INTERVENTION Series of classes for people with type 2 diabetes and their family members that incorporated Social Cognitive Theory tenets. The classes featured current nutrition recommendations for people with type 2 diabetes and hands-on cooking, where participants prepared and ate a meal together. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Three-day food records, completed prior to attending cooking schools and 1 month after, were used to measure changes in energy intake and selected nutrients. ANALYSIS Program efficacy was assessed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare differences between pre-training and post-training variables. ANCOVA was used to determine whether program efficacy was affected by sociodemographics. RESULTS Participants decreased (P < .05) intakes of energy, fat grams, percentage of calories from fat, saturated fat grams, cholesterol (mg), sodium (mg), and carbohydrate grams. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Nutrition education incorporating hands-on cooking can improve nutrient intake in people with type 2 diabetes from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Defining Skilled Nursing Facility Residents’ Dining Style Preferences

The desire of skilled nursing facilities to increase quality of service to meet changes in residents’ expectations, improve marketability, and adhere to regulations warrant a new look at culture change and homelike dining as defined by residents in skilled nursing facilities (SNF). The objectives of this study were to determine residents’ home dining practices, to define residents’ desired dining style practices in the SNF, and to determine the relationship between home dining practices and dining preferences in SNF. One hundred and four residents in three SNF in the central Texas area who met the cognition criteria and consumed facility-provided food were engaged in a standardized interview using the Resident Dining Style Preferences Survey. Data were analyzed to determine the degree to which home practices determine SNF dining preferences. Our findings showed that the majority of the participants want hot, home cooked meals served in the dining room. They want to be seated at the table with friends and neighbors and served on every day plates in a quiet atmosphere, with food served restaurant or table service style. Length of stay and generational group were not significant predictors of dining style preferences. Study limitations included small sample size and lack of ethnic diversity. Our study results show that removing dining time restrictions may be the most valuable adaptation for a SNF looking to initiate culture change.

SNE and politics.

I am writing this January/February column at the end of a very long campaign season here in the US. In January, as this issue comes to you, it will be near the time of the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. Regardless of a person’s political affiliation, I think we can all agree that the world is different than it was even just one year ago. It seems around the world, we are also more aware of how changes in one country can have global impact. As the world watched with great interest in the outcome of the 2008 presidential elections in the US, I find my own interest has increased in leaders of other countries and how they impact policies that affect their citizens and the global community. I am also quite keenly aware that the president or leader of any country has limitations. It would be great to elect someone with all of the right answers and strategies. However, in reality, we all know it takes many people working together to make progress in the challenges we face on world issues, economic issues, hunger and nutrition issues, and the complex interaction of all of these. How does SNE fit with the current political mix? SNE has a long legacy of being active in public policy advocacy. As nutrition educators, much of what we do is impacted by public policy. Many of the nutrition guidelines and tools we use are an end product of legislation. Further, many nutrition educators are funded through public funding. I want to express my appreciation and highlight the work of SNE’s Advisory Council on Public Policy (ACPP). Our ACPP members work hard throughout the year on public policy issues that impact the health of our citizens and benefit SNE members. Examples of ACCP efforts over the past two years include providing input on the Farm Bill and Child Nutrition Reauthorization, recommendations for improving children’s nutrition education, opposition to adding dietary supplements to Food Stamp benefits and providing presidential candidate profiles. I also want to thank SNE members for their advocacy efforts. In a recent ACPP survey, the vast majority of responders indicated that they had engaged in at least some activity on policy issues. Further, the majority also indicated an interest in additional training on public policy advocacy. Our journal has a role in the public policy arena as well. JNEB provides an avenue for publishing research that can inform policy decisions and provides information on the best nutrition education strategies and tools for the many programs that are publicly funded. I truly do believe we’re all in this together. Nutrition educators working together can change lives by not only providing effective nutrition education, but also by advocating for policies that improve the health and well being of our citizens.