Community Nutrition Teaching Model for Ethno-specific Diabetes Education, Recipes and Prevention

Faculty from the Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts are working in collaboration with the West Toronto Diabetes Education Program (WTDEP), community health care centres and the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) on developing recipes for the Community Nutrition Teaching Model for Ethno-specific Diabetes Education and Prevention project. EatRight Ontario (ERO) have also joined the project for the creation of a dissemination booklet to showcase the recipes.

Some 80% of Canadian immigrants belong to ethnic groups with an increased likelihood of developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Community health centres and the CDA have a responsibility to ensure that Canadians are aware of the risk of diabetes and familiar with the lifestyle choices necessary to prevent it.

In light of this GBC’s students and faculty have been producing health-conscious alternative recipes for ethnic foods and delivering educational cooking workshops to communities with higher risk of developing the disease. Student work targets a number of ethnic groups separately, working with individuals in the community to identify recipes and refine their ingredients to be healthier. The first phase targets alterations to South-Asian / West-Indian cuisine and is to be followed by recipe / educational material creation for other groups including: Aboriginal, Hispanic and African ethnicities.

Project outputs include recipe alterations and testing / sampling and the development of educational materials including workshops, DVDs and printed recipe booklets. The research is led by S. Khan, M.Sc., professor and Registered Dietician. Work Plan: Community consultation / recipe development & workshops for South-Asian / West-Indian ethnic groups; creation of supportive educational materials; Hispanic / African / Aboriginal community consultation & workshops; development / compilation of all recipes.