Whatcom County

A Classic Community Nutrition Assessment Experience

Key Issues

Major Nutrition Issues Identified by Whatcom County Focus Groups 

This was usually the first issue that was raised in the focus groups. The central themes for this issue were: 

• There is not a high level of understanding about what constitutes good nutrition 
• Information is often inconsistent and contradictory 
• There is an overwhelming amount of information 
• There are barriers to accessing information

Each focus group expressed concern about the effort and awareness that are required to access nutritious foods. Limitations to success in this area include time, money, and access to information. 

Consistent themes included: 

• People who have low incomes may have trouble accessing inexpensive, nutritious food 
• People disagree about the relative costs of fresh and processed foods 
• Foods that are the most convenient and available are not nutritious 
• Environmental factors compromise food and water quality

• Convenience culture and lack of time 
• Media influences 
• Body image, particularly for teen girls 
• Habits, addiction, and quilt 
• Influence of history and socialization

Fifty seven percent of the participants were living with their children, and family nutrition was identified as a very important issue. The identified themes were: 

• Children won’t eat what’s good for them 
• School lunches are inadequate 
• Family members have conflicting meal preferences and schedules

The following table lists the community resources identified by the participants. It is noteworthy that the groups also felt that medical professionals should be providing more to the community in terms of nutrition related services and that public schools should be doing more to provide nutritious foods to children. 
 

Strategies to Address Nutrition Issues

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Future Plans