Overview
Since 1969, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) has successfully addressed critical societal concerns by employing paraprofessional staff and influencing nutrition and physical activity behaviors of low-income families, particularly those with young children. Through a community-based, relationship-driven, hands-on educational approach, EFNEP has directly impacted economic, obesity, and food insecurity challenges that hinder the nutritional health and well-being of this nation. Collectively, 76 Land-grant Universities conduct EFNEP and reach roughly 200,000 low-income adults and 450,000 low-income youth in rural and urban communities each year through Cooperative Extension. EFNEP is available in all states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
Program Initiatives
New Youth Indicators
Program Development
EFNEP, the nation’s first federal nutrition education program, has successfully balanced constancy and change to improve the food and physical activity behaviors of low-income families and youth. In 1969, teaching was conducted one-on-one in the home.
Today, peer educator staff meet with families and youth in a variety of locations and use multiple interactive learning approaches to teach people in the context of their lives.
EFNEP applies a social ecological approach and utilizes both direct education and community engagement strategies to teach, reinforce, and support changes that people are making in their lives. For ongoing success, EFNEP implements evidence based national guidelines, tracks and applies trend data of the nation's changing food and learning environment, and listens to and actively engages with stakeholders. Furthermore, EFNEP coordinators engage with and adopts findings from multi-state research, and works with federal partners and other stakeholders in developing and sharing best practices.
Best Practices for Low-income Nutrition Education
Program Success
Consistently, annual data shows that more than 90 percent of adults and 80 percent of youth report improved behaviors following EFNEP involvement. Individual and family improvements are seen for four core areas:
- Diet quality and physical activity
- Food resource management
- Food safety
- Food security
EFNEP’s success is largely due to its dedicated staff of professionals, peer educators, and volunteers; support of champions and partners; and the commitment of youth and adult participants who change their lives and are now contributing in other ways to their families and communities. The EFNEP partnership between NIFA and Land-grant Universities/Cooperative Extension produces measurable evidence annually and shows how limited-resource families experience success. Further, EFNEP exemplifies how NIFA’s commitment to science with a purpose can achieve tangible positive outcomes for families, communities, and society.
National Guidelines
Evaluation and Reporting
Throughout its history, EFNEP has used data along with participant and stakeholder feedback to guide local, state, and national program decisions. Land-grant Universities collect the same information from adults and from youth, which allows the data to be gathered locally and reported at a state and national level. Data is also collected on community impacts through policies, systems, and environmental change (PSE) efforts. Five-year plans, annual updates, and budgets are used, as well, to outline needs and opportunities and make adjustments to priorities, plans, and actions taken to improve programming. EFNEP evaluation and reporting is done through the Web-based Nutrition Education, Evaluation and Reporting System (WebNEERS), a robust tool designed by Clemson University's Youth Learning Institute and NIFA. WebNEERS serves as the EFNEP evaluation and reporting system. For more visit WebNEERS page.
