Using Stories to Enhance Diabetes Prevention Across Culture: Teaching Black Children with Eagle Books

Objective:Evaluate the effectiveness of Eagle Books among Black children living in the Tri-County rural area in the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland

Methods:This project was conducted in two phases. Phase 1: assessment of the teaching methodology with 35 after school students:PreK-5^th grades for 5 weeks; Phase 2: Assessment of  the effectiveness of teaching Black children(pre-K -5^thgrade) with Eagle Books in combination with gardening  activities. Approximately 100 children, 7 educators were involved.   Process and outcome evaluation were conducted. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation was conducted. Content analysis, descriptive statistics, repeated measures were computed.

Results:The results of the phase1 indicated the need of a reinforcement tool. This tool was developed and used in phase 2. The feedback of the educators was positive. However, they mentioned some teaching challenges such as time management and length of stories. The reinforcement tool was appreciated by the educators. Qualitative results show that (1) Pre-K -3^nd graders not only liked the characters but also remembered their names and the story;(2) the majority of children understood the relation between the stories and the gardening activities; (3)Gardening activities increased their exposure to fruit and vegetable. Quantitative results indicate that (1) 85% of the children(4^th-5^th grade) increased their knowledge on diabetes and healthy lifestyle (eating habits and exercise); (2) 87% of the children(4^th-5^th grade) increased their knowledge in gardening.

Conclusion:Children related the content of the books to the gardening activities. These stories originally created for Native Americans were an effective tool for black children on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.