NISC Programs of Excellence 

• Year Awarded: 2023
• Programs of Excellence Name: Golden Bites: Fun and Flavorful Nutrition Education
• Hosting Organization: Hillsborough County Aging Services, Lee Davis Community Resource Center, Ybor City, Florida
• Ybor City Population: 16,245
• 60+ Population: 3,395
• Senior Center Members: 47

About Golden Bites

Golden Bites: Fun and Flavorful Nutrition Education is an innovative, fun-filled, and interactive approach to nutrition education. When nutrition education is fun and flavorful, participants retain the information provided and incorporate needed changes in their daily lives. 

The first step: provide interesting and trending topics. Then, create a handout with educational information, including graphics and small steps for change. Activities and games reinforce the information. Incorporate healthy, easy, budget-friendly food demonstrations. Grocery stores discovered shoppers love cooking demonstrations and food sampling, and the nutrition program realized the same.

Preparing "golden bites" maintains the nutrition education attendees' attention, brings smiles to their faces, and creates an eagerness to incorporate the healthy recipes into their lives. By adding a healthy competition using Kahoots, an online game-based platform, participants can answer nutrition questions created by the department's registered dietitian on their cellphones.

The program also includes individualized registered dietitian (RD) nutrition consultations with congregate meal participants and homebound older adults. The RD schedules sessions to improve older adults' diet and lifestyle choices. An assessment is generated to address specific health goals and medical needs, showing the importance of a balanced diet, and how proper foods choices can affect health and well-being. Nutrition supplement coupons are provided.

The department will continue to offer this program in the future after finding this multipronged interactive and sometimes competitive approach fosters a positive learning environment where participants retain the information and are more likely to apply lessons learned or recipes shared to their daily lives.  An exciting addition to the program: using the department's first cookbook, Recipes Aged to Perfection, and hosting a senior cook-off challenge in 2024.  The cookbook features recipes from a variety of cultures and celebrates the diversity of Hillsborough County and among Aging Services program participants. Together, the seniors and staff of Aging Services embarked on a mission to share their treasured recipes with one another. Recipes Aged to Perfection is the resulting labor of love. There are future plans to incorporate the sale of the cookbook in future food demonstrations and community outreach events.

Key takeaways from Golden Bites:

• An interactive and sometimes competitive approach to nutrition education fosters a positive learning environment and longlasting lifestyle changes.
• Donations from senior center participants and local businesses help ensure program success.
• Having a registered dietitian involved, including conducting assessments to address health goals and medical needs, is another ingredient for success.

About Hillsborough County Aging Services

Hillsborough County Aging Services operates nine senior centers (including two within community resource centers) throughout the greater Tampa area. "From active adult programming and in-home services to hot meals and referral services, Aging Services offers Hillsborough County residents age 50 and over various services to enhance quality of life."