EFNEPExpanded Food and Nutrition Education Program

Gail M. Hanula, EdS, RD, LD, Coordinator

The University of GeorgiaCooperative Extension

Colleges of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and

Family and Consumer Sciences, cooperating

FACS Extension• Land Grant universities, including UGA, have a 3-

fold mission: Teaching Research Service/Outreach

Cooperative Extension – Federal, State and local partnership.– Offices in almost every county in Georgia.

UGA Cooperative Extension

• Funded to provide research based information.• Agriculture - farm, industry and home• 4-H – 50 project emphasis areas, including fine

arts, science, health and foods and nutrition• Family and Consumer Sciences –parenting and

child care, human development, resource management, housing, food safety, nutrition

EFNEP“Teaching Healthy Eating on a Budget”

EFNEP is federally funded by USDA through Extension (CSREES) to provide foods and nutrition education to clients with limited resources in order to improve their health.

• Appling• Bibb• Brooks• Bulloch• Chatham• Clarke• Clayton• Colquitt• Cook• DeKalb• Dougherty• Fulton• Glynn

24 Georgia Counties• Gwinnett• Hall• Johnson• Liberty• Lowndes• Muscogee• Richmond• Walton• Ware• Washington• Wayne

Audiences

• Youth: Fun food and nutrition experiences for preschool

and school-age youth in HeadStart, Pre-K programs, childcare centers, community centers, 4-H clubs and schools.

• Adults: Class series offered to individuals or small groups,

often in cooperation with community agencies such as DHR Office of Family Independence, GED programs, Welfare to Work programs, food banks, shelters, Teenage Mothers Programs and WIC.

EFNEP Adult Program

• Helps low-income families with children: Learn how to eat healthier meals and snacks. Stretch their food dollars. Reduce the risk of food borne illness.

2006 EFNEP Highlights

• EFNEP reached 3,726 families• 2,465 adults graduated• 89% of graduates improved

their diets.

Prenatal/TAMS

• 222 pregnant women reached.• Pregnant teens enrolled in our

Teenage Mothers Program on Nutrition (TAMS).

• The importance of breastfeeding is highlighted.

Nutrition Highlights FY 06

• A goal is to help clients recognize the importance of each food group and consume a minimum of 3 servings of grains and 1 serving from each of the other food groups (fruit, vegetables, milk and meat).

• 3-1-1-1-1 Pattern increased from 17.2% at entry to 29.6% at exit

• 6-2-3-2-2 Pattern increased from 1.9% at entry to 4.7% at exit

Family Meals and Snacks

• Clients eating 3 or more meals and snacks increased from 75% to 82%.

53% of clients had children under the age of 5.

Food Group Improvement

• Breads 5.1 – 5.2• Fruits 1.1 – 1.6• Vegetables 3.0 – 3.4• Dairy .9 – 1.1• Meats 2.2 – 2.3• Others 15.5 – 15.8

Calories do count...

• Adding fruits, vegetables and grains is great, but...• Calorie levels increased by 166 calories, from

1852 to 1880 (1679 in 2002). • Pattern could lead to weight gain.• Focus on substituting fruits, vegetables and grains

for high calorie desserts and snacks.

Reducing Chronic Disease

• Dietary fat decreased from 36% to 34%

• Dietary fiber increased from 13 to 15 grams/day

Food Resources

• Amount of money spent on food decreased $38/month per family

• 366 families enrolled in one or more food assistance programs as a result of EFNEP

Behavior Surveys

92% of clients completed pre and post surveys

Improvements in food resource management, nutrition

practices, and food safety

Food Resource Management

• 49% more often planned meals• 41% more often compared prices• 40% less often ran out of food• 45% more often used a list

• Overall, 79% showed improvement in 1+ food resource mgt. practices

Nutrition Practices

● 42% more often thought about healthy food choices when making food decisions

• 37% more often prepared meals without added salt

• 58% more often used the Nutrition Facts label

Nutrition Practices, cont’d

• 33% reported their children more often ate breakfast

• 85% showed improvement in 1+ nutrition practices

Food Safety• 31% or more followed

recommended practices of not allowing meat & dairy foods to sit out more than 2 hours

• 53% more often did not thaw foods at room temperature

• 63% showed improvement in 1+ food safety practices

Youth

• 5585 youth reached• 99% reached through groups• 55% under 6• 27% 9-12 year olds• 933 (18%) participated in

regular 4-H programs

Volunteers• 605 volunteers for EFNEP in

2006• Equals 4.8 full time

positions!• 3% were former EFNEP

participants

EFNEP Website

www.eatwellga.com• Publications• Call your local

Cooperative Extension Service to find out if EFNEP is in your area.

• 1-800-ASK-UGA1