Journal Club 7: Overweight and Obesity, Weight Perception, and Weight Management Practices Among SNAP-Ed Participants in Georgia: A Needs Assessment

(Recorded 3/26/2018)

Speakers: Claudette Bailey, MS, RDN, LD, University of Georgia & Jung Sun Lee, PhD, RDN, University of Georgia

Overweight and obesity remain one of the nation's most serious health problems, putting more than two thirds of US adults at heightened risk for a range of chronic diseases. Although overweight/obesity affects people in the US of all socioeconomic statuses, genders, races, and ethnicities, low-income and minority groups are disproportionately affected. Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) was reestablished as the Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program. For the first time in the program's history, weight management falls within its scope. To inform the development of new SNAP-Ed curricula to address obesity prevention, researchers at the University of Georgia conducted a needs assessment to examine the associations among self-reported weight status, weight perception, and weight management practices of SNAP-Ed participants in Georgia.