Dietitian Karen Halderson worked with Navajos in the Southwest, Alaska natives in Sitka and Anchorage, and the Wasco, Warm Springs and Paiute tribes in Oregon.
A certified diabetes educator and K-State graduate in dietetics, she spent her career helping people manage their diets for better health. After 20 years with the U.S. Public Health Service, she retired to New Mexico and kept on serving the underserved.
“I liked working directly with different kinds of people,” she said about her work as Extension diabetes coordinator. She recently retired for the second time.
Halderson has endowed a scholarship for a minority student majoring in dietetics. “I am a dietitian and I think we need more dietitians, especially more minority dietitians,” she said.
Often older Hispanics and Native Americans, for example, are more comfortable talking with someone who looks like them, especially if that person speaks the same language, Halderson said. The New Mexico population is 40 percent Hispanic and 10 to 15 percent Native American, she said. Yet 80 to 90 percent of dietitians are Caucasian.
Diabetes is a growing problem in many of these communities.
Cynthia Aries-Dowling received the Halderson Scholarship for two years. Because of her mother’s illness, she has been interested in how diet can benefit health and quality of life since high school.
The senior was born in Lima, Peru. Her family relocated permanently to Miami when she was 14. She earned her associate degree in biology from Miami Dade College and transferred to K-State when her husband was stationed at Fort Riley.
Halderson advises students to get involved in different activities. The scholarship winner heeded. She is active in Kappa Omicron Nu, Engineers without Borders, and League of United Latin American Citizens. She is president of Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices (SNAC) and is a Multicultural Ambassador.
“Ms. Halderson is a wonderful person, easy to talk to and someone I look up to. I am very honored for her help, and to have a mentor like her,” Aries-Dowling said. The two met last year.
The dietitian is proud to be part of training the next generation of dietitians.
“I got an excellent education at K-State,” Halderson said. “Any place I worked, especially if I talked to dietitians, they knew that K-State is a good place.”
I agree! K-state does offer a great education in dietetics and has for decades! Right Deb! This story was indeed inspiring. In part because I spent time in the Midwest and saw several minorities with type 2 diabetes and it certainly is a major health problem in my state. There’s a double hit since I was born in New Mexico! Keep up the great work Jeannie and the rest of the K-Staters!