Target Audience

North Dakota’s Family Nutrition Program (FNP) serves Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients and eligible North Dakotans of all ages, including youth, families with children, pregnant and parenting teens and older adults. FNP serves customers in 40 of the state’s counties. During the 2008 program year 29,498 unduplicated direct educational contacts were made with the target audience.

Objectives

The overall objective is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose active lifestyles consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA Food Guidance System. Specifically, participants will:

• Make behavior changes to move closer to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
  
• Make food purchasing changes by employing money-saving strategies.
• Be assured access to enough food throughout the month.

While addressing these objectives, our focus on knowledge and behavior changes in 2008 was for participants to:

• Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables and dry edible beans.
• Increase physical activity levels to at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
• Use time and money-saving practices for family meals.
• Follow recommended consumption practices from each food group.
  

Partnerships and Collaborations

The North Dakota Department of Human Services (NDDHS) continues to be an especially strong partner. Referrals and access to the intended target audience from allied agencies are other important avenues of partnership for the Family Nutrition Program. FNP reaches people by delivering education at locations the audience frequents. This continues to be a strong feature of FNP’s success in North Dakota, as many food assistance recipients hold more than one part time job in order to make ends meet. They do not have many, if any, discretionary hours in a day to access nutrition education activities, so the FNP staff members take the education to the participant in locations where they may already be receiving services.

Evaluation of Impact

During the 2008 program year, goals were focused on several aspects of the dietary quality and physical activity areas of nutrition education for food assistance recipients. Participants were surveyed after their involvement to determine the impact of each programming topic.

Survey results after FNP education indicate an increase in fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, and physical activity by FNP participants.

Fruit Consumption

• Before participating in FNP, 14.8% always consumed two cups of fruit per day and 32.4% usually consumed two cups of fruit per day
• After participating in FNP, 22.2% always consumed two cups of fruit per day and 43.5% usually consumed two cups of fruit per day

Vegetable Consumption

• Before participating in FNP, 6.5% always consumed 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day and 25% usually consumed 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day
• After participating in FNP, 15.5% always consumed 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day and 44.5% usually consumed 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day

Physical Activity

• Before participating in FNP, 18.8% always were physically active 30 minutes each day and 41.1% usually were physically active 30 minutes each day
• After participating in FNP, 31% always were physically active 30 minutes each day and 49.3% usually were physically active 30 minutes each day

• "A display I've used successfully compares the cost of highly processed foods to fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts. Twenty-one snacks were included - enough for a family of three to have one snack each day. Cost of the processed food snacks - $16.59 and the fresh products were $12.49, a $4.10 savings for a week or $213.20 over the course of a year. The booth debunked the idea that fresh fruits and vegetables are so expensive."

• "Our family has started taking walks together. We are now up to three times per week. Also we are eating less chips, sweets and foods that are not as nutrient-rich."

• "Thanks for showing me what a serving of vegetables looks like. I was expecting my kids to eat way too much at each meal. " - WIC mom

• "I never use a shopping list, so this has become my first step in helping to stretch my food dollars. I have seen results in which I am not making as many trips to the grocery store, impulse buying has decreased, and I am more watchful at the check out on the prices that are ringing up."