Nutrition Program Benefits Parents, Kids
Jaime Schalk (right), Scammon, stays in touch with nutrition assistant Joyce Sanders, who offered support to Schalk during her first pregnancy.
When 21-year-old Jaime Schalk was pregnant with her first baby, she admits she was equally excited and nervous.
Schalk, who lives in Scammon, Kan., said her anticipation of the birth was tempered by being unsure of how to care for the newborn. When her doctor recommended a program that helps families, she was more than willing to give it a try.
During Schalk’s pregnancy, Joyce Sanders, a nutrition assistant with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), visited Schalk’s home once a month.
"They had me keep a record of everything that I was eating during my pregnancy," remembered Schalk, now age 25 and expecting her third child.
"Many breast-feeding mothers just don’t know what to eat," said Sanders, who retired in late 2005 after working 15 years with the program. "Once mothers learn what they need to eat to provide nutrition for the baby, they are able to do it. Healthier eating means a healthier mom and baby."
After Schalk’s first pregnancy, she went to EFNEP breast-feeding classes and was able to discuss questions and concerns with other nursing mothers. EFNEP helps families learn about basic nutrition, food budget management, food preparation, and food safety. It was founded in 1969 to help people with limited resources by teaching them about food safety and how to improve their health.
Nutrition assistants help families learn in homes, schools, assisted-living centers, prisons, clinics, and libraries. In Schalk’s case, "Anytime I needed help, they were there," she said.
The participants learn that helpful family and infant feeding information, food safety tips, and food shopping skills are shared in several different languages. In Kansas, the assistants are teaching homemakers and groups whose principal language may be English, Spanish, or Vietnamese.
"The nutrition assistant tells you what fruits to eat, and what things you want to eat more of to improve your baby’s health and development. It really taught me how to eat properly," Schalk said.
In 2004, there were 1,551 Kansas families and 2,096 children enrolled in EFNEP. There were 6,594 youth contacts made through the program while 743 EFNEP participants were pregnant. In addition, 69 percent of the families were at or below the federal poverty level.
EFNEP participants work with other assistance programs such as WIC, the Food Stamp program, commodity foods, and child nutrition programs. In surveys, participants said:
• 71 percent of them safely thaw their food more often,
• 77 percent use food labels more often to make their health choices,
• 79 percent no longer run out of food before the end of the month,
• 87 percent improved in food resource management,
• 93 percent improved in one or more nutritional practices, and
• 69 percent improved in two or more nutritional practices.
Four years after their initial meeting, Schalk and Sanders remain friends. Jaime Shalk recently took her healthy toddlers, 4-year-old Wyatt and 17-month-old Kody, to visit Sanders at her home in Pittsburg to play … and eat fruit, naturally.
Sandy Procter
785-532-1675
procter@k-state.edu
Anger Management
Nearly 300 parents responded to a survey indicating they have made"life-changing impacts" as a result of their participation in Fireworks, an online course that focuses on anger management in adult-child relationships. Surveys indicated that parents found positive solutions for anger management by "attending" these online sessions. More than 5,000 people have visited the course Web site at www.k-state.edu/ wwparent/courses/fireworks/.
Charles A. Smith
785-532-5773
Adding Value
K-State and the Kansas Rural Center are leading efforts to help Kansas producers develop value-added enterprises, through a mentoring project titled Guided Explorations of Value-Added Products and Enterprises. For example, the Certified Kitchen Workshops help entrepreneurs capitalize on consumers' growing interest in buying such local products as bread, baked goods, salsa, baking mixes, jams, jellies, and more. In 2005, 12 products processed by Kansas producers either began small-scale value-added processing or expanded their value-added operation.
Jana Beckman
785-532-1440