P179 Nutrition Education for Asian Indian Fathers: What Works?

Background Fathers are mostly under-represented in family interventions targeting healthy eating behavior in children due to a variety of reasons including busy work schedules and maternal gatekeeping. There is a need to examine the most effective approach to engage fathers in nutrition education programs, especially in more traditional cultural groups such as Asian Indians. Objective This study aimed to determine participation preferences of Asian Indian fathers including their perspectives on preferred content and format of future nutrition education programing. Study Design, Settings, Participants This cross-sectional study included 70 Asian Indian fathers of 6-11-year-old children, recruited through various Indian community organizations in South Florida. Participants completed an online survey with questions on preferred nutrition education program participation, delivery mode, program duration, time and content. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Content and delivery preferences were analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS V 25.0. Results About 48.6% (n = 34) of the participants said they were likely to attend a future nutrition education program. Of these, 67.6% (n = 23) preferred an online program delivery format. About 26.5% (n = 9), preferred a mix of online and in-person sessions and only 5.9% (n = 2) preferred an in-person nutrition education program. Majority of the participants preferred a duration of 30 minutes for in-person education sessions taking place either weekends/ weekdays after work. “Easy access”, “flexibility” and “easy accommodation with work schedule” were the most stated reasons for preference of online mode of delivery. When asked about content, fathers were most interested in learning about “healthy balanced diet for children” (n = 10), “making kids choose healthy when alone” (n = 5), “healthy eating options for vegetarians combining Indian and Western diet” (n = 5) and “nutrition needs for various child age groups” (n = 5). Conclusion These findings can guide the design and conduct of nutrition education interventions for Asian Indian fathers. There is a need for innovative program delivery techniques including web-based education to engage fathers in nutrition programming. Funding None.