Between Two Plates/Entre Dos Platos

Aim or objective of the film

The objective of the project was to produce a bi-lingual (English/Spanish) educational video in telenovela (soap opera) format to increase parental knowledge and self-efficacy related to topics essential to purchasing and preparing healthy foods economically. Through the video, families are taken into the grocery store for a shopping experience where menu planning, portion size, reading and interpreting food labels and selecting fruits, vegetables and whole grains are discussed and dramatized using a fictional ChooseMyPlate competition.

Target audience

The target audience is low income Hispanic parents. Parents of participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and staff members were instrumental in creation and evaluation of the video.

Supporting evidence or research for the film’s message

The video’s messages are based on guidance from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion’s website, ChooseMyPlate.gov, which provides information to help consumers build healthier diets with resources and tools for dietary assessment, nutrition education, and other user-friendly nutrition information.

Impact or evaluation of film’s influence on target audience and/or public health issue

A pre-post evaluation of the video has demonstatred increases in knowledge of healthy eating and shopping practices and intention to change behavior among participants recruited from WIC. A report of preliminary data on the impact of the video has been submitted as an abstract to the APHA 2015 annual meeting. The proportion of correct answers from the first 162 evaluation participants increased from 58% on the pre-test to 67% on the post-test (OR=1.3, p<0.001). The video was also associated with intention to change behavior. After watching the video: 84% of participants indicated they were more likely to make a grocery list; 73% to plan weekly meals; and 58% less likely to go grocery shopping hungry. Most (99%) of participants reported ‘liking or really liking’ the video.

Mention of accompanying materials, documentation, campaigns, programs that are linked to the film

A link to the video is posted on the website and Facebook page of the Neighborhood WIC Program operated by Public Health Solutions. The PHS Neighborhood WIC Program is the largest in New York State and serves more than 45,000 women, infants, and children annually. Copies of the video are available to WIC staff for use in group educational exercises. In addition, the efficacy of the video in changing parental behavior is being tested as one component in an interventional randomized controlled trial, Starting Early: RCT to Test the Effectiveness of an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Program funded by the USDA under the Agriculture and Food research initiative for Child Obesity prevention (program area A2101).