Oral

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States (U.S.) and other parts of the world. In the U.S., chronic diseases cause major limitations in daily living for about 25 million Americans and account for 1.7 million deaths annually. Although chronic diseases are among the most common, costly health problems, they are also among the most preventable. Healthy eating behaviors can help to reduce the devastating effects of chronic diseases. This session will focus on interventions to promote healthy eating to reduce chronic disease risk. The presentations will discuss: i) the prevalence of high blood cholesterol in relation to cardiovascular disease and eating habits; ii) the gaps in the dietary management of adults with coexisting diabetes and hypertension; iii) whether the Transtheoretical Model would facilitate better adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet; iv) the effect of serum lutein and zeaxanthin response to consumption of egg yolks on cholesterol lowering medication; and v) the effect of a Promotor (a) heart disease prevention program on dietary behaviors of Hispanics.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: i) list factors associated with high blood cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and age-related macular degeneration, and discuss how the information received might be used in prevention and control efforts; ii) understand the challenges of diet adherence in diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and age-related macular degeneration; iii) identify dietary behavior indicators; and iv) describe instruments utilized to evaluate dietary behavior. More detailed learning objectives are listed under individual papers.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing