3.5 Learn What Your Clients are Eating

Many traditional foods are excellent choices. When this is the case, compliment your client on the use of healthy traditional foods or methods of preparation. Encourage families to continue positive traditions, and caution them about switching to high-fat, high-sugar foods commonly available in the U.S.

Notice how closely many traditional eating patterns fit the recommendations for healthy eating. Traditional staple foods are usually in the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group. Protective foods are found mainly in the vegetable and protein categories. Status foods, which are often high in fat and sugar, are usually eaten less often.

Practice Pointers

• Encourage positive traditional choices: Promote identification of practices that are healthy, and then carefully suggest incorporation of new foods.
• Keep it familiar: Show how to prepare foods with some familiar ingredients, or give out vegetable seeds of favorite foods.
• Supply a resource list: Have a list of places to find familiar foods (e.g., ethnic grocery stores or farmers’ markets).

Some food practices may need to be modified. For example, some Mexicans use large amounts of lard in cooking. Once in the United States, their intake of lard often decreases, but it may be replaced by vegetable oil, mayonnaise, and salad dressing, resulting in foods that are still high in fat.

You should help your clients make modifications that don’t interfere with important traditions. Try to share the idea that maintaining traditional food customs and good nutrition are both very important.

You may need to suggest ways to reduce the fat and calorie content of the commodity supplemental foods distributed on American Indian or Alaska Native reservations.

While encouraging positive cultural food habits, you should also be teaching clients about foods typically associated with the United States. Learning about these foods is an important way for a newcomer to better understand their new community.

People want and need to learn about the foods commonly consumed in this country for many reasons. This is especially helpful for those who need to find substitutes for foods that aren’t available. Parents should know what their children are eating at school and with their friends, to help them develop healthy eating habits.

Practice Pointer

Create hands-on experiences: For one Head Start program, hands-on experiences seemed to work best — giving parents the opportunity to touch and compare foods, prepare and taste new foods.