Program coaches lower-income women about health and money

Karen Estrada used to read food labels while shopping but often did not know how to interpret the nutritional information. These days, she scours the tiny print for sodium, fat and sugar content. She writes the USDA recommended daily sodium intake at the top of her grocery lists, a reminder to choose low-sodium.“Now I really think about what I am buying and reading labels makes sense,” said Estrada, 28, an administrative assistant who lives with her husband and son, 7, in Los Angeles. “Reading labels and trying to eat different colored fruits and vegetables has been a really big change. I learned I w as eating a lot of foods that had a lot of sodium in them.”Estrada changed her shopping and eating habits after participating in nutrition education and financial literacy classes, through theWomen ’s Health& Money @ Work program. The program, which goes by WHMW, is a collaboration between the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women ’s Health Center, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Los Angeles branch, and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Office of Women’s Health. Estrada, who works at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, attended six hour-long sessions in May.The education and coaching focus on healthy eating, ways to increase activity, and personal financial management. The classes aim to help low-to-moderate income women in Los Angeles learn how to improve their health and finances through informed decision-making and personal coaching. The clas...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news