SNEB Journal Club 8: An Ecological Approach to Exploring Rural Food Access and Active Living for Families with Preschoolers

Public transportation solutions and enhanced neighborhood safety are potential community-wide obesity prevention strategies in rural communities. However, interventions should be tailored to the community's stage of readiness. Strong social networks should be considered an asset for community change in these regions.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the ecological model of predictors of childhood overweight.
2. Describe how the community portion of the ecological model affects the barriers and facilitators for accessing healthy food and physical activity opportunities for rural preschool children.
3. Describe a mixed method developmental approach with complementary intent used in order to best understand the experiences of rural parents and their preschool-aged children access to healthy environments.

Dr. Abby Gold is Vice Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at North Dakota State University. She has a doctorate in Health Communication from NDSU, a Master of Public Health Nutrition from the University of Minnesota, and Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Gold’s research focus is in public health, nutrition, and communication and she has a strong interest in the intersection between health and agriculture from a social science perspective. Formerly, Dr. Gold was an Extension Specialist in Nutrition and Wellness for the University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension Service.