Reaching Southeast Asian Families with a Healthy Nutrition Message

Abstract

Minnesota ranks high among states for the health and education of its people, but some of the largest disparities in the nation also exist here. Minority communities, such as the Southeast Asian community, show disproportionately greater rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and other nutritionally related diseases. Extension’s Simply Good Eating (SGE) nutrition education program collaborated with a California program to adapt and pilot a curriculum titled Building Healthy Families, developed for the Hmong community. Building Healthy Families sparked the interest of local partner agencies. The curriculum was adapted in 2012, has the potential to bridge a gap and fill a need in these communities due to similar values and challenges. The adaptations have the twin goals of increasing healthy behaviors and reducing the risk of chronic diseases and obesity in these groups.