PhD student Kaitlyn Daly is presenting "Perceptions of Food, Faith and Health from a Christian Context: Preliminary Findings" on September 29 from noon to 1 p.m. on Zoom. 

Faith communities (FCs) have effectively facilitated various food-related health interventions (e.g., exercise groups, nutrition education, food policy evaluation) for numerous food-related chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease). Many of these “faith-placed” interventions utilize the FC as a setting to target a specific population, while others integrate a “faith-based” structure that embeds religious/spiritual themes or activities into the intervention design. Existing research asserts “faith-based” designs serve an important role in intervention success and sustainability; however, it remains unclear which components of “faith-based” interventions have facilitated these observed positive health outcomes. To garner in-depth understanding of these essential components, this study aimed to parse out the multidimensional perceptions constructed around food, faith and health in a Christian context. These findings will result in a guiding conceptual model to advance intervention development and measurement of faith-based food-related heath interventions.