About Eating Well, Living Well

About the Project The “Eating Well, Living Well” project was awarded to the San Diego Community College District, Continuing Education Adult English As A Second Language Program by the California Nutrition Network for Active Healthy Families (Network) in 2002. The United States Department of Agriculture Food Stamp Program funded the project. The mission of the Network is to enable food stamp eligible California families to adopt healthy eating patterns as part of an active, healthy lifestyle. In order to measure success of students at meeting their goals, the Network requires that the lessons lead towards improving eating behaviors. The goals of the “Eating Well, Living Well” project are to: Develop and disseminate Model Lessons that enable adult educators to integrate nutrition education that focuses on the message of maintaining healthy eating behaviors or changing less healthy ones and encouraging physical activity. Help provide adults and their families the skills they need for achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Provide Training for adult educators in using the materials in “Eating Well, Living Well.” Create a set of Guidelines for stakeholders interested in integrating nutrition education into adult English As-A-Second Language programs. Create a Textbook Checklist that reflects the content standards to be used to evaluate current texts, develop new ones and provide criteria for the selection of texts Develop and maintain Partnerships locally and across the state to increase collaboration among agencies involved in nutrition education Audience The primary audiences of “Eating Well, Living Well” lessons and materials are both: Food-stamp eligible adults in California, especially adult immigrants, enrolled in English-as-a-Second-Language programs. Adult educators and nutrition educators working with this audience. While the contents of this web site are open to all audiences, there are some restrictions on the use of the lessons and materials. In order to download and use the lessons and materials, your agency/program will need to be eligible, based on whether you provide services to food-stamp eligible adults AND there is a mandatory attendance at an “Eating Well, Living Well’ training session. Many adult ESL programs throughout California, including those offered at adult schools, community colleges and CBOs, (Community-based Organizations) will be eligible. Nutrition educators working directly with food-stamp eligible adults may also be eligible. For more information on your agency’s eligibility and to attend or arrange training, please go to Training. Background and Development In 2002, the Network commissioned Prehm & Associates to conduct formative research with Latino adult ESL students. (See Research, Resources & Linksfor the full document) The research identified 6 areas of nutrition interest among those students: Preparing healthy meals that are quick and easy. Adding fruits and vegetables to their diets. Influencing children to eat healthy meals and snacks. Eating a balanced diet. Accessing resources for low-cost healthy foods. Demonstrating safe food handling practices. Based on this research, Content Standards and ‘Key Messages’ for nutrition education were identified considering the competencies found in CASAS (Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System) areas, SCANS (Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) and EFF (Equipped for the Future) adult role maps.  See Research, Resources & Links for a full description of the Content Standards.   Using this research, and based on the identified Content Standards, the “Eating Well, Living Well” team developed 24 model ESL lessons for integrating nutrition education into ESL programs.  Materials include: 24 Nutrition Education Lessons with Language, Content and Behavior objectives 4 Levels: Beginning Low, Beginning High, Intermediate Low and Intermediate High Nutrition Background Information for the Teacher, including websites for more information. A six-stage lesson plan, as endorsed by the California Department of Education. Lesson plans, worksheets, visuals, quizzes, ‘Dynamite’ Demos and additional activities Journals Supplemental Activities  Textbook Checklist Ordering Information for creating a ‘Teacher Kit’ of realia, visuals, kits and posters and other ‘hands-on’ materials To preview a lesson and view the components, see Preview Lesson. The full curriculum is available to download for eligible instructors and agencies.  See Lessons to Download. Behavior Change A critical feature of the “Eating Well, Living Well” lessons is an emphasis on the concept of ‘behavior change.’  Knowledge alone may not help adults make the kinds of changes needed to impact their health.  “Eating Well, Living Well” provides information (knowledge) but goes one step further in an attempt to impact actual behavior. “Eating Well, Living Well” lessons include key steps that may lead to behavior change.  These steps include: Helping students identify a need for change by providing a knowledge base and skill development. Sustaining awareness of the objectives over time. Considering psychological factors of change. Providing opportunities for goal setting and monitoring progress.   For more in-depth information about Behavior Change, click here: Research, Resources & Links. Copyright©2006 - DHS (Department of Health Services) - All Rights Reserved. Graphic & Web Design by San Diego County Office of Education.