P163 Enhancing Family Mealtime Environments and Routines Among Mexican Immigrant Families Through Abriendo Caminos

Abstract

Background Shared family mealtimes (SFM) promotes family stability and health. Planning family meals ahead of time, identifying roles, flexibility during transitions and stressful situations, and effective communication are related to reduced obesity risk among youth (Jacobs and Fiese 2007), and improved diet quality (Boutelle, Birnbaum et al. 2003). Enhancing the organization of SFMs among families is a focus of Abriendo Caminos, an extension education program. Objective To examine family mealtime routines among Mexican immigrant families before and after participation in Abriendo Caminos. Study Design, Settings, Participants Data were collected from Mexican immigrant parents (N = 55) who had atleast one child 6-18 years old in a Midwestern state who participated in Abriendo Caminos (AC) during 2017. About half of the families were randomly assigned to the control group and received printed materials related to topics (e.g., nutrition, family routines, physical activity) addressed in AC, and half were assigned to the intervention group and participated in six AC workshops. Data were collected from both groups before the program (T1) and six months later (T2). The Family Routines Questionnaire (FRQ), a sub scale of the Family Ritual Questionnaire (Fiese, Hammons et al. 2012) was used to assess changes between T1 and T2. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Descriptive analyses and mean scores were calculated across T1 and T2 to identify changes in family mealtime routines by group using SPSS 24. Results While at T1 there was no significant difference by group in participants’ family mealtime routine scores (control group, 2.32; intervention group, 2.30), there was a significant difference at T2 (P Conclusion The AC program had positive impacts on family mealtime routines which, in turn, is associated with reduced obesity risk. Combining data from future AC programs can help to further assess the effectiveness of the program in strengthening family mealtime routines among Mexican immigrant families. Funding Iowa State University.