The Somali Retail Project seeks to reduce the prevalence of diabetes among Somali refugees living in Seattle and King County. Seattle and King County is home to a significant Somali refugee and immigrant population (Balk, 2015). Somalis have a high prevalence of diabetes, prediabetes and obesity compared to non-Somalis (Njeru et al., 2015). Research shows that a growing number of Somali immigrants develop diabetes within the first five years of arrival to the U.S. (Cunningham et al., 2008). Multiple factors may influence Somali refugees’ risk for diabetes, including poor eating habits, acculturation, unfamiliarity with available foods and socioeconomic influences (Rondinelli et al., 2011). Somali …show more content…
The Center TRT website (http://centertrt.org/?p=intervention&id=1093) and the Baltimore Healthy Stores website (http://healthystores.org/) provides information about the Baltimore Healthy Stores project. The Center TRT website provides a link to a full program description and includes an option to request the packet of intervention materials from the project’s Program Coordinator.
The Baltimore Healthy Stores project worked in collaboration with the Korean Grocers Association and Korean owned and operated small markets in low-income, urban communities in Baltimore, MD. The goal of Baltimore Healthy Stores is to “improve access to healthy food and to increase customers’ knowledge, self-efficacy and behavioral intentions about healthy food choices and food preparation through health education and point-of-purchase marketing strategies” (Baltimore Healthy Stores, 2013). The program achieves its goal by changing customer behaviors and changing the practices of the storeowners that results in increased availability of healthy …show more content…
The Program Coordinator is responsible for project administration and management, community involvement, partner collaboration, staff training, materials development and evaluation. The project also requires multiple trainings for storeowners and funding to develop and print posters and shelf labels, purchase and stock healthy food products and to perform taste-testing activities. Monitoring and evaluation components include 1) collecting data at the store related to healthy food sales and food stocking placement, 2) surveying storeowners about their nutrition knowledge and self-efficacy and intentions to change their stocking practices and 3) surveying customers to assess their purchasing and consumption of healthier foods, knowledge of nutrition, and self-efficacy and intentions to change their diet. By increasing the access and appeal of healthy foods in Somali grocery stores, Somali customers will increase their consumption of healthy foods, which will decrease the prevalence of diabetes in the Somali refugee and immigrant