SUNY Oneonta Students Present Nutrition Education to Oneonta Residents

Eighteen SUNY Oneonta Dietetics majors conducted outreach, research and nutrition education this semester by partnering with several local groups and organizations as part of a community service project.

The students, who are juniors and seniors, were split into five groups and worked with Saturday's Bread, the Community Gospel Church, Greater Plains Elementary School kindergarten classes, Table Rock Fitness and the SUNY Oneonta men's and women's tennis teams. Students worked with their community partners to assess the nutrition needs of members, teams and clientele, researched what had been done with similar groups of people, and then presented the nutrition education at their community partner's location.

"At this point, each student has taken many nutrition courses and has a pretty good idea of how to conduct nutrition research and apply that information," said Dr. Marcy Gaston, assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics. "This project was a great way for the students to learn how to talk to and educate the public about nutrition outside of using field-related terminology. It gives them the basis of performing this kind of service on a much larger scale."