Incorporating Literacy – Focused Strategies into Nutrition/Health Education

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

San Bernardino County Department of Public Health (DPH), Nutrition Program is dedicated to improving the lives of county residents through education and the promotion of food resource management, healthy eating and physical activity. As part of the statewide CalFresh Healthy Living (CFHL), DPH Nutrition focuses on the prevention of chronic diseases and the improvement of food security among low-income residents. Through nutrition education, policy, system and environmental changes, San Bernardino CFHL (SBCFHL) works to support healthy living and to reduce obesity. One goal is to engage and empower children and families to implement dietary changes at home and while dining out. In 2018, SBCFHL began providing enrichment activities that incorporated nutrition education with a focus on literacy. When the worldwide Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic challenged SBCFHL’s ability to provide these services, this set in motion the need to create innovative approaches to serve families in non-traditional ways such as a “drive-in” story time, Potter the Otter story video series and an outdoor story time walk. The implementation of these creative literacy-based activities allowed SBCFHL to partner with seven libraries, nine schools and ten community sites covering 13 cities in San Bernardino County, reaching approximately 4,400 children and families.