Source: SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
RECLAIMING A HEALTHY HERITAGE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
EVANS-ALLEN
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1003001
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 28, 2014
Project End Date
May 15, 2017
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ORANGEBURG,SC 29117
Performing Department
Home Economics/Human Services
Non Technical Summary
Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. Prevention and/or management of the problem could be done utilizing an intergenerational approach to make children aware of the value of knowing how to produce and prepare locally grown foods. The Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage project was imitated to address the obesity epidemic impacting young children. During the course of the project child development students (preschool) will be given a food habit questionnaire, food histories will be completed and a medical screening will be given in order to understand the eating habits, food intake of the children and to realize how they have fared pre and post project weight as a result of being in the study. The goals of the project are to decrease the incidence of childhood obesity, to increase intergenerational activities for young children, and to increase young children's ability to prepare simple, economical healthy foods. If the goals are met we should see a decreased incidence of obesity in young children.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
75%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
72460993020100%
Knowledge Area
724 - Healthy Lifestyle;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
The major goals of the project are to decrease the incidence of childhood obesity, to increase intergenerational activities for young children, and to increase young children's ability to prepare simple, economical healthy foods.
Project Methods
The project will be conducted on the campus of South Carolina State University at the Child Development Learning Center to consist of approximately 60 child development students, three elders from the community, three child development teachers and their assistants, and three undergraduate students. The child development students will be the focus of the study. They will be given a brief food habit questionnaire about their eating habits, food histories will be used to determine food consumption patterns, and medical dimensions will be conducted such as weight and height to get pre and post measurements. The use of classroom instruction, trainings, garden laboratory experiences, and intergenerational activities to include gardening, harvesting, preparing and consuming the vegetables to achieve the desired long term outcome of decreasing the incidence of obesity in young children.

Progress 05/28/14 to 05/15/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project were students, faculty, staff, parents, and participants at local and national conferences. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training was given to the teachers, teacher assistants, undergraduate student workers and elders on food consumption, care, safety, and recipe production and preparation. Professional development for teachers was received at Epcot as part of the Hydroponics system experience. They explored via a Behind the Seeds tour which allowed them to have hands on experience with the hydroponics system and given information to take back to their classrooms. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were distributed via newsletter to various child development centers and end of the year circulations at the Child Development Learning Center and via poster presentation in photographs from duration of the project at local meetings and at national conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The stakeholders had opportunities to work with an elder in the garden, continued exposure to healthy eating via classroom food experiences, interact with classroom materials that exposed and introduced healthy eating, partake in field experiences that catered to healthy eating and living such as Edventure, SC Aquarium, Riverbanks Zoo, and Epcot Hydroponics food system.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: "Renata, D. & James, M. (2015). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. Professional Agricultural Workers Conference and Gamma Sigma Delta 12th Annual Student Competition, Tuskegee University, Dec 6, 2015
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: "Renata, D. & James, M. (2016). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. 31st Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences National Conference, Jacksonville, FL, March 30th to April 2nd 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: "James, M. & Renata, D. (2016). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. 1st College of Graduate and Professional Studies Research Symposium at South Carolina State University, April 14, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: "James, M. (2016). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. Association for the Advancement of Educational Research 16th Annual Conference, Jacksonville, FL, November 8-12, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: "James, K. & James, M. (2016). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. 74th Annual Professional Agricultural Workers Conference, Tuskegee University, December 4, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: "James, M. (2017). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. Association of 1890 Research Directors National Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, April 1-4, 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: "James, K & James, M. (2017). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. Association of 1890 Research Directors National Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, April 1-4, 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2017 Citation: "James, M. (2017). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage. National Head Start Association Annual National Conference and Expo, Chicago, Illinois, April 6-10, 2017.


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for this current reporting period was the preschool students, teachers, and parents. Changes/Problems: PI was not able to utilize the elders in the project due to a late IRB approval. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Renata Dostalkova participated in a poster presentation, Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage, at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference and Gamma Sigma Delta 12th Annual Student Competition; Tuskegee University, Alabama. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results were disseminated to the Child Development Learning Center's preschoolers, parents, teachers and staff. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, elders will be included in the study and a summer nutritional camp will be documented.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Increased consumption of nutritional foods, nutritional newsletters (2) provided to stakeholders, gardening of vegetables (3 gardens were planted), and preparation of nutritional foods. The foods prepared and grown included tomatoes, collards, and sweet potatoes. Students assisted in the planting, picking and preparation of the foods from the garden and actually assisting in adding ingredients to nutritional recipes and tasting them during snack time or lunch time.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Dostalkova, R. and James, M. (2015). Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage, at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference and Gamma Sigma Delta 12th Annual Student Competition; Tuskegee University, Alabama, Dec 6, 2015.


Progress 05/28/14 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for this current reporting period will include the Principal Investigator, staff, elders, students, and an undergraduate student researcher. Changes/Problems: One problem that was encountered was with the recruitment of the elders for the program. The program started with three and now it is down to one as recruitment efforts continues. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Elders and staff were trained on the nutrition component of the project. The training was conducted by Dr. Ryan, RD. The goal of the training consisted of the following: (a) how young children can learn through food experiences, (b) food as a symbol of love and security, (c) food preparation, and (d) using food as a vehicle for human communication. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The goals for the next reporting period will be to: (a) have activities documented with elders, the children, and teachers as it relates to preparing simple, economical healthy foods, (b) prepare the garden for planting, (c) plant seeds for summer and fall harvest, (d) introduce various foods to students for consumption, and (e) utilize child development nutritional equipment and resources.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The accomplishments included the orientation of stakeholders about the project and the expectations for being a part of it. The Reclaiming a Healthy Heritage intergenerational project will infuse two generations to enhance the awareness of the benefit of growing and of eating healthy foods. The significance will be the nutritional component, but the highlight will be the two generations working together, sharing ideas, and growing the foods. The elders will bring rich life experiences to our youth that a textbook cannot convey. The increased awareness of the children by the intergenerational partnerships will also hopefully increase the consumption of locally grown food by the child's family therefore improving the outcomes of childhood obesity. In 2011, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's behavioral risk factor surveillance system, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFSS), reported that the incidence of obesity in Orangeburg County was 67% of the population, and the incidence of diabetes was over 42% of the total population (South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 2011). Approximately 24 % of the total population under the age of 18 and over 13,000 were overweight or obese.

Publications