Put down the tortilla and pick up the fork: Using peer education to ensure culturally-appropriate nutrition education in Chicago Latino communities

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Food Stamp Nutrition Education program, the Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion (CPHP), utilizes specially trained community nutrition peer educators (NPEs) and nutrition specialists (typically Registered Dietitians) to provide nutrition education and services in community-based venues across the city of Chicago. To accommodate increasing requests for service from the Latino community, CPHP has hired additional bilingual/bicultural staff and formed a community peer educator-driven translation team to ensure that educational services and materials are appropriately designed and utilized to meet the needs of these communities. Team responsibilities include: review and modification of existing materials/activities for use in the Latino community; when existing materials are unavailable, development and utilization of new materials and activities; collection of relevant resources for providing nutrition education and services in the Latino community; service as a resource to non-Latino CPHP and other university staff; and formation of partnerships with additional sites and organizations in the Latino community for service delivery. Innovative developments include a healthy Latino shopping trip based on the commonly-used stores and food items in the local community and modified traditional recipes from the Latino community. Nutrition education is provided through diverse methods including interactive group classes, one-on-one teachable moments, and cooking demonstrations at community sites including schools, parent groups, faith-based organizations, food pantries, health centers, and after-school programs. This community peer educator-driven translation team has been key in creating successful culturally-relevant nutrition education and services for the local Latino community. Presenters will include a community peer educator.