Program Overview

What We Do

The Nutrition and Wellness Services team is made up of professionals including Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) and Health Education Specialists, who deliver the most current and accurate nutrition and health information to county residents. We focus on preventing nutrition and activity-related chronic diseases through education and the creation of supportive food and active community environments.

Why We Do It

Healthy eating and physical activity are the building blocks for healthy bodies and should be accessible to everyone. Eating more fruits and vegetables, choosing water and healthy drinks, and being more active reduces the risk of obesity-related diseases and improves overall wellness.

How We Do It

  • We conduct nutrition and physical activity education in schools, grocery stores, faith-based organizations and other community settings to empower residents to make healthy choices.
  • We work together with community partners to make healthy choices easier where people eat, live, learn, shop and worship through policy, system, and environmental change.
  • We listen to the voices of our community. We train and empower residents to be champions for change and leaders in their own neighborhoods and cities.

Who We Serve

With the assistance of subcontractors and trained extenders (such as teachers and Community Health Leaders), we serve a large portion of residents that are low-income or eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/CalFresh across the county.

CalFresh Healthy Living Activities

LIVE: Healthcare Clinics and Hospitals

A partnership with interested health care delivery systems and providers across the county to implement food insecurity screening, referrals to local food assistance programs, and complementary interventions to improve access to food for food insecure CalFresh residents.

LEARN: Early Childcare and Education (ECE)

Outreach focused on children in the 0 to 5 age group, their families and adult caregivers in center-based, home-based or public school settings to help establish healthy habits and expose children to a variety of healthy foods at an early age. ECE sites work with Public Health to create healthy and active early care and education environments supported by healthy site policies and systems.

LEARN: School (K-12) Education

A partnership with qualifying school, afterschool and youth engagement sites to reach children and youth in the 6 to 17 age group and their parents in order to increase nutrition education, physical activity opportunities and wellness policy expansion that increases access and consumption of healthy food and beverages at each site.

SHOP: Food Access

A collaboration with feeding agencies of various sizes and models to address food insecurity across San Bernardino County. Nutrition education provided will support clients at the food distribution or assistance sites and empower clients to live a healthy lifestyle on a limited budget.

Program Support

Department of Aging & Adult Services (DAAS)

RDNs provide technical expertise, evaluation, and guidance towards nutrition standards, meal service, food service sanitation, safety, food service worker training, participant nutrition screening, and nutrition and physical activity education to older adults enrolled in the Elderly Nutrition Program. Nutrition education includes evidence-based programming taught by health educators to help seniors maintain or improve physical, psychological, and social well-being for independent living.

Child Health & Disability Prevention (CHDP)/ Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention

RDNs deliver nutrition and anthropometric trainings for CHDP medical providers and staff. Nutrition education, assessments and home visits are provided for low-income children and youth in the county to bring awareness to families of the potential dangers of lead exposure.

Clinic Operations

Public Health Center patients are referred to the in-house RDN by Clinic Operations providers to offer one-one-on nutrition counseling and medical nutrition therapy (MNT) services for nutrition-related chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Patients are encouraged to follow a healthy eating and daily activity lifestyle plan.

Detention Facilities

RDN participates in annual Title 15 inspections of the adult and juvenile County detention facilities along with a Registered Environmental Health Specialist and a Registered Nurse. As part of the inspection team, the RDN is responsible for analyzing menus and reviewing medical diets to ensure compliance with nutrition regulations.

Partnerships

County Nutrition Action Partnership (CNAP)

A collaborative of federally funded and non-funded partner organizations that work together to address access to healthy foods, promote physical activity, target obesity prevention, and address food insecurity among low income residents of San Bernardino County.