Barriers and facilitators to following the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reported by rural, Northern Plains American-Indian children. Issue 3 (28th March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jahns, Lisa; McDonald, Leander; Wadsworth, Ann; Morin, Charles; Liu, Yan; Nicklas, Theresa
• Is Part Of: Public health nutrition. Volume 18:Issue 3(2015)
• Page Start: 482
• Page End: 489
• Publication Date: 2014-03-28
• Subjects: Nutrition -- Periodicals; Nutrition policy -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S136898001400041X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-9800

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="abs1" sec-type="general"> <title>Objective</title> <p>The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) promote healthy dietary choices for all Americans aged 2 years and older; however, the majority of Americans do not meet recommendations. The goal of the present study was to identify both barriers and facilitators to adherence to DGA recommendations for consumption of five recommended food groups: grains (specifically whole grains), vegetables, fruits, meat/beans and milk (specifically reduced-fat/non-fat), among American-Indian children.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs2" sec-type="general"> <title>Design</title> <p>Nominal group technique sessions were conducted to identify and prioritize children's perceived barriers and facilitators to following the DGA, as presented in the 'MyPyramid' consumer education icon. After response generation to a single question about each food group (e.g. 'What sorts of things make it harder (or easier) for kids to follow the MyPyramid recommendation for vegetables?'), children individually ranked their top five most salient responses. Ranked responses are presented verbatim.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs3" sec-type="general"> <title>Setting</title> <p>A rural Northern Plains American-Indian reservation, USA.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs4" sec-type="subjects"> <title>Subjects</title> <p>Sixty-one self-selected fifth-grade children.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs5" sec-type="results"> <title>Results</title> <p>Core barriers for all food groups studied included personal preference (i.e. 'don't like') and environmental (i.e. 'cost too much'; 'store is too far to get them'; 'grandma don't have'). Core facilitators included suggestions, i.e. 'make a garden and plant vegetables'; 'tell your friends to eat healthy'.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs6" sec-type="conclusions"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Barriers and facilitators are dissimilar for individual food groups, suggesting that dietary interventions should target reduction of barriers and promotion of facilitators specific to individual food groups recommended by the DGA.</p> </sec> </abstract>