The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68237

Cindy M. Young, MPH, RD, Johanna Asarian-Anderson, MPH, RD, Norliza Tayag, RD, and Joan Gustavson, BS. Nutrition Program, County of Los Angeles, Department of Health Services, Division of Health Promotion and Binational Border Health, 3530 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800, Los Angeles, CA 90010, 213.351.7889, ciyoung@dhs.co.la.ca.us

A community cookbook was developed for a Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition) social marketing campaign called Es Facil! Solo Agregue Una Fruta o Verdura Mas Todos Los Dias. Su Familia Merece Buena Salud Buena Salud (It’s Easy! Add One Fruit or Vegetable Every Day. Your Family Deserves Good Health). This campaign targeted Spanish speaking, Latino women with annual family incomes of $20,000 or lower with enrolled school aged children in the Northeast Health District of Los Angeles County. The main behavioral objective of the campaign was to increase fruit and vegetable consumption by one serving at the family meal. The cookbook, used as part of a class curriculum was designed to emphasize the importance of eating fruits and vegetables as well as provide information on buying, storing and preparing fruits and vegetables in an easy, economical way. The recipes were collected from community members through a recipe contest. The recipes were tested and analyzed by dietitians and then modified to adhere to Project LEAN nutritional guidelines while maintaining taste and cultural appropriateness. The recipes and messages within the cookbook were focus group tested to ensure community acceptance. Preliminary impact evaluation data of the cookbook gathered through a post intervention telephone survey found that 88% of participants liked the cookbook and 96% found the recipes easy to follow. Funding for this project was provided by the California Nutrition Network for Healthy, Active Families, a United States Department of Agriculture funded grant.

Learning Objectives:

There is a great interest and request from community groups to collect and promote their own local recipes. At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to:
• Identify the key components of a community cookbook for healthy family meals.
• Recognize the importance of testing recipes through a professional.
• Recognize the difficulty in standardizing a recipe.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.