Effective nutrition education for Aboriginal Australians: lessons from a diabetes cooking course.

Objectives: To examine the experiences of Aboriginal Australians with or at risk of diabetes who attended urban community cooking courses in 2002-2007; and to develop recommendations for increasing the uptake and effectiveness of nutrition education in Aboriginal communities.

Methods: Descriptive qualitative approach using semistructured interviews with 23 Aboriginal course participants aged 19-72. Verbatim transcripts were coded using NVivo 7 software, and qualitative analysis was undertaken.

Barriers and enhancers to dietary behaviour change for Aboriginal people attending a diabetes cooking course.

Issue Addressed: Aboriginal people access diabetes and nutrition education less than non-Aboriginal people. Culturally appropriate, effective and accessible diabetes and nutrition education for Aboriginal people is urgently needed.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used to explore the experiences of Aboriginal people who had attended cooking courses run at the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney between 2002 and 2007.