This course is designed for health educators and home visitors serving families with infants 0-6 months old. Learners will gain knowledge and skills to make a positive impact on healthy infant nutrition and growth as well as maternal and family nutrition. This course is uniquely tailored towards Indigenous families and approaches nutrition through a strengths-based lens connecting to Indigenous foods and Native Foodways.
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What You Will Learn
- How to have meaningful discussions with families to positively impact healthy infant feeding and growth.
- The importance of sugar moderation in the first year of life and beyond.
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Promoting Healthy Nutrition for Infants and Families
How can health educators have meaningful discussions with families around nutrition and healthy eating? A careful approach that connects families to strengths and culture can open the door for success. We explore a strengths-based approach, connecting to Native Foodways and Indigenous foods, and four brief techniques of motivational interviewing specific to promoting healthy nutrition choices.
WEEK 2
Brief Nutrition Basics
Everything a health educator needs to know about nutrients, food groups, and making sense out of nutrition facts labels. Also, the importance of moderating sugar intake and answers to some commonly asked questions around sugary drinks.
WEEK 3
Infant Nutrition
Why the first few months of baby's life are critical for establishing healthy feeding patterns. How to tell if a baby is hungry or full? Why breastfeeding is about more than just providing great nutrition. Tips and tricks on starting solid foods when baby shows readiness around 6 months and what caregivers can do to set a powerful healthy eating example (teaching their child to love healthy food and drinks).
WEEK 4
I Am Me! Baby Personalities
Understanding a baby's unique personality traits can help parenting go as smoothly as possible. How can we understand and work with each baby's feeding style? Also, we'll explore caregiver mental health and coping with challenges of parenting.
