Samantha Rivera, the new NEP Coordinator, with some of the visual aids she uses to educate people about nutrition. The poster on the wall depicts the USDA MyPyramid, with various food groups and nutrition and activity recommendations. Of the four test tubes, three represent the amount of fat in a quarter-pound cheeseburger. The fourth represents the average amount of sale consumed daily by each American, 2 1/2 teaspoons.

Nutrition education program looks to build base of clients, with new UNL coordinator

By David Ostdiek
Communications Specialist
Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Samantha Rivera is the new Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Coordinator for Scotts Bluff and Morrill counties.

NEP, a free nutrition education program that helps families on a limited budget to eat healthier and save money, is available in 40 Nebraska counties.

NEP actually consists of two educational programs with acronyms for monikers: SNAP-Ed, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, provides nutrition education and food budgeting information to help limited-resource families be more healthy. EFNEP, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, targets limited-resource families who have children living at home or pregnant women. Rivera presents lessons to adult participants of these programs.

Since starting in January, Rivera has been presenting programs a couple days a week to about a dozen people at Res Care Workforce Services, a service center funded by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to provide a wide range of assistance to people in need.

She wants to reach other individuals and groups who might be able to use the nutrition education program. Letters have gone out to area schools and senior citizen centers with populations that qualify, income-wise. She also has contacted programs such as Migrant health, the Nebraska Association of Farmworkers, Head Start, and Cirrus House.

Her service area now includes the two counties in the central Panhandle, but eventually the plan is to expand to Dawes and Box Butte counties via distance education and mail-in lessons. The program is open for youth, adults and senior citizens who qualify according to income guidelines.

To contact Rivera, call her office at 308-632-1261 (leave a message if necessary), or e-mail srivera2@unl.edu.
Rivera works under the supervision of Dr. Lisa Franzen-Castle, Extension Nutrition Specialist at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center.

“Samantha is very creative and passionate about helping people live healthier lives,” Franzen-Castle said. “We are so excited to have her has part of the food, nutrition and health team.”

“She has taken the initiative to create new activities for participants that are interactive, fun and provide timely information.”
Rivera delivers lessons in person, or if necessary by internet, phone or mail, to individuals or small groups. Lessons can be presented at agencies, schools or community sites, or in the home.

The lessons are structured such that Rivera meets with each group at least three times to present the seven required lessons. These include topics such as USDA’s MyPyramid guidelines, food groups, meal shopping and planning, food resource management, watching fats, salts and sugars, breakfast, and food safety.

Additional, optional lessons are available on feeding infants and children, prenatal nutrition, and healthy snacking.

To measure effectiveness, Rivera administers a pretest and post test.

The lessons aren’t just lecture sessions. Rivera brings along handouts she shares with audiences to illustrate some of the material. Word games – for example, there are word searche games – bring a sense of fun to some sessions.

Rivera provides practical information on topics like unit pricing or how to read nutrition labels. She sometimes brings actual supermarket newspaper advertisements to class, so the attendees can practice comparison shopping for the best deals. There are models to help demonstrate the size of single portions of various food items. Test tubes show the fat and salt content of some types of prepared foods.

There are calendars that have recipes.

“I try to make it laid back, help everybody relax, and have fun motivating healthier, positive lifestyles,” she said.