By ONME Newswire
SACRAMENTO, Calif.-- Dairy Council of California, a nutrition organization who focuses on dairy agricultural literacy and collaboration through education and advocacy, announced the release of a culturally responsive resource to support infant and toddler nutrition for African American families. “Feeding Infants and Young Toddlers: Highlighting African, Black and Caribbean Heritage Foods” was produced with $10,000 in project funding from the National Association of County and City Health Officials under the Reducing Breastfeeding Disparities through Continuity of Care project, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dairy Council of California collaborated with the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and its physician training program Leadership Education to Advance Diversity-African, Black and Caribbean; the Boston Organization of Nutritionists and Dietitians of Color, a professional organization devoted to increasing the number of African American and Afro-Caribbean nutritionists and dietitians and providing nutrition education in the community, also collaborated on the resource.
“We are pleased to release personalized evidence-based dietary recommendations that better reflect the African, Black and Caribbean communities by incorporating age-appropriate traditional and familiar foods, spices and favorite healthy meals,” shares Harumi Reis-Reilly, NACCHO lead program analyst. “With this wonderful new product, we continue to elevate the importance of co-creating with communities culturally responsive services and materials to best serve the needs of diverse families in the United States.”
Angela Brown, president of BOND of Color, shares her excitement and the importance of the new resource becoming available to the public: “There are many environmental limitations to feeding a young black family, like affordability, healthy food access and education. We are happy that this handout addresses the education component and cultural concerns around feeding infants and toddlers. As we were able to survey our community and receive tangible requests, we successfully met the NEED! Moreover, we worked with stakeholders to change the narrative of voices unheard. This handout represents our culture in the foods we love and can offer to growing families.”
Dairy Council of California prioritizes the unique nutrition needs of children, with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life, from birth to age 2 years, a critical growth and development period. This resource provides an actionable way to better reach families with culturally tailored resources that are relevant and relatable.