Improving Dietary Awareness Among the Parents of Elementary School Children of the Bhutanese Community in Utah (BCU)

Background: After spending an extended period in a refugee camp and experiencing food deprivation, food scarcity, and other struggles associated with a poor socioeconomic status, a refugee population is more likely to lack proper knowledge about the importance of their daily intake of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products. Despite the abundance of food in the United States, resettled refugees are also likely to face difficulty finding familiar, healthy foods due to a lack of dietary awareness among themselves. The president of the Bhutanese Community in Utah (BCU) expresses concern that risky dietary behavior among elementary school children can potentially lead to chronic health issues in the future. Methods: A survey of elementary school children's parents of the BCU was conducted to assess their knowledge of healthy nutrition, recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetable consumption by their children, and strategies to limit their children's access to unhealthy food. Two nutritional awareness toolkits were prepared based on the responses to the survey questions. A PowerPoint presentation was emailed to the participating parents, and a colorful pamphlet was handed to all the participating parents and their children. A post-implementation survey was conducted among the participating parents to determine the toolkit's feasibility, usability, and satisfaction. Results: During the pre-intervention survey, nineteen (100%) parents appeared to be very conscious of the high calories found in certain food and beverages. Sixteen (84.2%) parents reported that their children eat a home-prepared breakfast and fourteen (74%) reported that their children eat a home-prepared lunch more than five days a week. However, twelve (63.2%) parents reported that their children consume less than recommended amount of 2.5 servings of fruits, and fifteen (79%) reported that their children consume less than recommended amount of four servings of vegetables per day (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2022). After implementing the educational toolkit, all the parents agreed to encourage their children to increase the number of servings of fruits and vegetables in their diet. The participating parents and the community president appreciated the project and hoped for more health-related community projects in the future. Conclusions: Implementing the nutritional educational toolkit helped improve nutritional awareness among the parents of the BCU. The president of the community, including some of the participating parents, mentioned that the PowerPoint slides and the pamphlet could be resources for all parents of the community. Additional projects like awareness to improve physical activity and to minimize screen among elementary school children should be considered in the future.