Evaluation of a Trauma-Informed Nutrition Curriculum for Women With Children Living in Transitional Housing

Abstract

Objective

This study describes the implementation of a 6-week nutrition and culinary education curriculum at a transitional housing facility for single mothers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.

Methods

Using a novel, trauma-informed approach to nutrition education, we delivered the Around the Table: Nourishing Families curriculum across three, small group cohorts (n = 15) over a period of 2 years. Lessons emphasized small group dialogue and group-directed learning on the topics of toxic stress, food as nourishment and family resilience combined with hands-on recipe preparation by the group. We evaluated process measures of participation and attrition and outcome measures of self-reported food skills, dietary intake, emotional well-being, and other indicators of nutrition self-care using a pre–post design.

Results

Food skills significantly improved post-curriculum (p = 0.026) with additional improvement in several areas of dietary intake, mindful eating, nutrition self-care and greater use of healthy foods at family mealtimes.

Conclusions

Hands-on, participatory nutrition and cooking education that emphasizes mind–body connections to food can be a feasible strategy for teaching introductory food skills and may also support socioemotional healing in this population.