Page 208 - Nutrition Counseling and Education Skills: A Guide for Professionals

The goal of effective family nutrition counseling is to use the shared environment to influence positive
nutrition and health patterns and to foster healthy food consumption practices.

To provide effective nutrition guidance, counselors must be aware of the client’s family composition and
family roles and responsibilities as they relate to food procurement. Family nutrition counseling involves
providing guidance and advice to people who live in the same household. In many households, families are
composed of “nuclear” relatives, such as parents and siblings, as well as “extended” relatives, such as
grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. In others, children may be raised by only one parent. Many children of
divorced parents share time between households, which may have different food challenges.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 1

1. Describe your own family household.
2. Who is responsible in your family for food purchasing and menu planning decisions?
3. Can you identify the origins of your own food preferences?

Because changes in family food buying and food preparation influence the child’s adherence to the regimen,
it is essential that the nutrition professional know which family member primarily engages in these activities.
Historically, in many typical households, a child’s mother was the person responsible for food shopping and
food preparation. In today’s society, this is no longer true of all households. Many women work outside the
home, and other members of the family (fathers, grandparents, and older siblings) may have the primary
responsibility for menu planning, purchasing food, and preparation of food. In some households, none of the
family members has time for these responsibilities or for menu planning. In other circumstances, older
children may be responsible for preparing their own breakfasts, bag lunches, and after-school snacks. When
only nutritious food is brought into or made within the home, children are given environmental cues that
enhance their healthy dietary regimen and reduce their intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Parents may be motivated by concerns about child nutrition.

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