Abstract D023: Eat, move, live: A community-based intervention strategy aimed at reducing the perceived barriers toward healthy eating through tailored modifications in lifestyle and nutrition

Abstract

Racial and ethnic minority groups experience diet-related disparities and as a result tend to have poorer nutrient dense dietary consumption. Dietary intake lacking nutrient dense foods has been associated with higher risk of cancer. Key contributors to diet-related disparities include environmental factors such as perceived barriers toward healthy eating. The Eat, Move, Live (EML) program seeks to increase participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding nutrition and healthy eating habits. The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in perceived barriers to healthy eating following the completion of a community-based intervention strategy. Participants of the program attended either a 5-week or 12-week series of courses which included: a one-hour interactive nutritional education segment, a 30-minute food preparation followed by a demonstration, and 30-minute physical activity session. Each of the segments sought to address topics aimed at reducing the prevalence of cancer. Health behaviors, beliefs, and demographics were obtained utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. Body measurements and biomarkers were taken at baseline and at follow-up. A total of 93 participants completed the self-administered questionnaire. The population was made up primarily of females (83%); 52% were monolingual English speakers, 33% were monolingual Spanish speakers, 13% were Bilingual (English & Spanish), and 2% specified other. 71% of participants had a household income less than $24,000/year and 30% had less than a high school education. Changes in perceived barriers to healthy eating were examined and there were statistically significant variations among 4 of the 13 reported barriers to healthy eating questions. When asked if it was difficult to eat healthy pre-intervention 39 of the 64 participants marked yes, but post-intervention only 26 of 64 marked yes (p<.002). Pre-intervention 22 of 40 stated that they did not know how to prepare healthy meals and post-intervention only 11 of 40(p<.003).This study demonstrated that a tailored community-based intervention strategy can significantly reduce the perception of barriers to healthy eating, which has been linked to a reduction in cancer. EML was shown to increase participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about nutrition and eating habits. Citation Format: Katty Nerio, Cristal Resto, Marisela Garcia, Alejandro Fernandez, Mayra Serrano. Eat, move, live: A community-based intervention strategy aimed at reducing the perceived barriers toward healthy eating through tailored modifications in lifestyle and nutrition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D023.