PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Washington State Dietetic Association has given its annual Community Practice Award for Excellence to Washington State University Extension Specialist Sue Butkus.The award was established in 1990 to acknowledge the professional contributions of dietary practitioners in Washington State.
Butkus serves as an Extension specialist in the program for nutrition and exercise physiology in WSU’s College of Pharmacy. Based at WSU’s research and extension center in Puyallup, she has made major contributions in community dietetics programs, particularly for underserved populations. Specifically, Food Stamp clients are receiving nutrition education; her work has contributed to development of this education, nationwide.
She also developed Extension’s Diabetes Awareness and Education Program, which has measurably improved the diets of more than 2,500 medically underserved, high risk adults in Washington.
Noted for her work nationally in the area of improving the nutritional intake of low-income clients, Butkus has co-authored a number of peer-reviewed research articles published in journals, including the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. She has been an active participant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Extension Research and Education program, the Nutrition Education Network and the Society for Nutrition Education.
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