Fit
WIC
THE
STATE OF KENTUCKY:
Beyond Nutrition Counseling: Reframing the Battle against
Obesity
The
Kentucky WIC Program
The Kentucky WIC Program serves 113,000 participants,
about 70% of whom live in rural areas. Most participants
are non-Hispanic whites (85%), with a smaller population
of African American (11%) and Hispanic (3%) families.
Goal
The goal of Fit WIC Kentucky was to reach WIC health professionals
to increase the awareness of the barriers in WIC to addressing
the problem of childhood obesity and to assist health
professionals in identifying possible solutions to the
barriers.
Methods
Previous qualitative research conducted in Kentucky WIC
had suggested that the dialogue that occurs between WIC
health professionals and parents during nutritional counseling
sessions often fails to create an effective partnership
to either prevent or treat obesity. Communication barriers
uncovered between WIC health professionals and WIC clients
included differing views on how to define obesity, what
causes it, when it becomes a problem, the context in which
it occurs, and what to do about it.
To
address these barriers, the Kentucky project developed
a documentary-style video entitled "Beyond Nutrition
Counseling: Reframing the Battle against Obesity".
The video documented the daily challenges WIC families
face in feeding their children. The video also exposed
the gap between the reality of the WIC families' lives
and the way in which they are provided information in
the WIC setting. The provocative content of the video
was designed to make health professionals reflect on their
own counseling techniques and on the current structure
of WIC and how both aspects might be altered to make the
WIC program more responsive to the problem of childhood
obesity. The intervention consisted of conducting facilitated
group discussions with WIC health professionals about
the video after they had viewed it. The video exposed
the barriers to effectively working on weight issues in
WIC, and the discussion was designed to help professionals
think about solutions to the problem.
The
intervention particularly stresses the goal of moving
"beyond" what has been the traditional approach
to "nutrition counseling" in WIC and to catalyze
change toward achieving three major goals for WIC:
