Torrence, C.; Griffin, S.F.; Rolke, L.; Kenison, K.; Marvin, A. Faithful Families Cooking and Eating Smart and Moving for Health: Evaluation of a Community Driven Intervention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2018, 15, 1991.
Torrence, C.; Griffin, S.F.; Rolke, L.; Kenison, K.; Marvin, A. Faithful Families Cooking and Eating Smart and Moving for Health: Evaluation of a Community Driven Intervention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1991.
Torrence, C.; Griffin, S.F.; Rolke, L.; Kenison, K.; Marvin, A. Faithful Families Cooking and Eating Smart and Moving for Health: Evaluation of a Community Driven Intervention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2018, 15, 1991.
Torrence, C.; Griffin, S.F.; Rolke, L.; Kenison, K.; Marvin, A. Faithful Families Cooking and Eating Smart and Moving for Health: Evaluation of a Community Driven Intervention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1991.
Abstract
There is a growing need to utilize community interventions to address modifiable behaviors that lead to poor health outcomes like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Poor health outcomes can be tied to community-level factors such as food deserts (identified areas with low access to fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods) and individual behaviors like sedentary lifestyles, consuming large portion sizes, and eating high-calorie fast food and processed foods. Through a social ecological approach with family, organization and community, the Faithful Families Cooking and Eating Smart (FFCES) intervention was created to address these concerns in a rural South Carolina community. FFCES used gatekeepers to identify 18 churches and 4 apartment complexes in low-income areas. 176 participants completed both pre- and post- survey measures. Student’s t-test measures found statistically significant change in participant perception of food security (0.39, p-value=0.005), self-efficacy with physical activity and healthy eating (0.26, p-value=000), and cooking confidence (0.17, p-value=.01). There was not significant change in cooking behaviors as assessed through the Cooking Behaviors Scale. FFCES shows that a social ecological approach can be effective at increasing and improving individual healthy behaviors and addressing community-level factors in low-income rural communities.
Keywords
dietary intervention; multilevel intervention; diet & exercise; health outcomes
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
