Extension
It Starts With Us
To encourage individuals, families and communities to make proactive choices to improve health and wellness
Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices
B. Cheirs, A. McCoy, B. Rudy
Faithful Families
Health
Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud
The obesity epidemic threatens the quality and years of life of Kentuckians. Obese individuals are at increased risk for many chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancers. The obesity rate in Kentucky increased 90 percent over the last 15 years. Thirty percent of individuals in the Commonwealth report no leisure-time physical activity. Increased consumption of unhealthy food, stress, and built environments that promote physical inactivity are largely responsible for the obesity epidemic. As a result, Kentuckians are dying from heart disease and cancer at higher rates than all Americans and they have a lower life expectancy, 75.5 years, compared to 78 years for Americans.
Nutrition Education Programs help families gain access to food and stretch food dollars; communities to decrease hunger; and local food assistance programs to educate recipients on healthy and safe food preparation methods. Agents, paraprofessionals and volunteers are pivotal in training consumers and producers to maximize local access to food products from farm to table.
-A decrease in the number of obese and overweight children, youth, adults and elderly
-Increase in the practice and promotion of physical activity and healthy eating daily
-Improvement in the mental health and well-being of Kentuckians
-Manage and prevent the risk, debilitation, and premature death related to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke and hypertension
-Increase the estimated health savings in dollars for chronic disease.
-Kentucky population will increase average fruit and vegetable consumption by 1 or more servings per day
-Practice healthy food choices and strengthen individuals’ ability to build healthy eating plans and patterns.
-Maintain appropriate calorie balance during each stage of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy and breastfeeding and older age
-Practice of physical activity in families and communities and decreased time spent on sedentary behaviors
-Strengthen community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity, physical inactivity and chronic disease.
-Access more local foods
-Plant, harvest and preserve produce
-Apply improved food preparation skills, food management skills, food safety and healthy eating habits
-Participants will learn the difference between portion sizes and serving sizes
-Participants will understand the relationship between mental health and physical health
-Participants will learn to prepare a healthy snack
-Participants will gain knowledge of the relationship between disease and weight
-Participants will learn how to read food labels
-Participants will understand relationship between caloric intake and energy output
-Participants will learn that fitness can be fun while being healthy
-Participants will understand health related terminology (i.e. BMI, etc.)
-Participants will increase knowledge of the benefits of physical activity
-Participants will understand the importance of sustainable local agriculture to individual health and financial well-being
-Participants will learn to grow, prepare and preserve food
-Participants will learn to incorporate unfamiliar foods or foods not currently eaten into a healthy diet
-Participants will increase knowledge and understanding of healthy eating, food safety and food resource management
Long-Term Outcome: Individuals and families improve their quality of life by consuming healthy foods and increasing physical activity.
Indicator: Increase fruit and vegetable consumption to at least 75% of RDA, 30 minutes of activity at least 4 days a week.
Method: Written survey of sample of program participants
Timeline:12 - 15 months following educational activities during this 4-year Plan of Work
Intermediate Outcome: Apply improved food preparation skills, food management skills, food safety and healthy eating habits.
Indicator: Demonstrate proper measuring and cooking techniques, follow food safety procedures.
Method: Observe at hands-on workshops
Timeline: During educational lessons
Initial Outcome: Increase knowledge of the relationship of food, activity and health
Indicator: Understand that calorie intake and output effect body weight, identify healthy food choices
Method: Oral or written survey
Timeline: End of lesson
Audience: Farmers Market Clientele
Project or Activity: Taste Testing of Locally Grown Foods
Content or Curriculum: Plate It Up
Inputs: Farmers Market, Plate it Curriculum, Agents, Assistants
Date: July-October 2021
Audience: General Public
Project or Activity: Food Preservation Programs
Content or Curriculum: Food Preservation Publications and Training
Inputs: Agent, Ball Home Canning resources
Date: Summer 2021
Audience: Preschoolers
Project or Activity: LEAP for Preschoolers
Content or Curriculum: LEAP
Inputs: Preschools of county
Date: Fall and Spring 2020-2022
Audience: Community Health Fairs
Activity: Banana Festival Health Fair and Hickman Health Fair - booths, doctors
Content or Curriculum: Ask-A-Doc informational speakers, educational booths
Inputs: AHEC, local healthcare community, Housing Authority, Health Department
Date: Fall 2020 and Spring 2021
Audience: Extension Homemakers
Activity: Leader training, workshops,
Content: NEP, FCS Publications, HEEL program, Plate It Up
Inputs: Extension resources, eXtension, other university's Extension resources, USDA, Specialist
Date: Various Times in 2019-2020
Audience: Fulton County and Fulton City Schools
Activity: 8 week school enrichment
Content or Curriculum: Professor Popcorn
Date: Fall 2020-2022
Audience: Fulton County and Fulton City Schools
Activity: Truth or Consequences: The Choice is Yours
Content or Curriculum: Truth or Consequences program materials, Local Statistics
Date: Winter 2021
Inputs: Extension Agents, Schools, Fulton-Hickman ASAP Council, Four Rivers Behavior Health, Hospitals, Health Department, Local Government
Audience: Fulton County and Fulton City Schools
Activity: Germbusters- Hand washing Program
Content or Curriculum: HEEL resources, Wally Cat, USDA, etc.
Date: Winter/Spring 2020-2022
Inputs: Extension Agents, Schools, Health Department, And Family Resource Centers
Audience: 4-H Age
Project or Activity: Bee Pollinator program
Content or Curriculum: Bee Curriculum
Inputs: Bee School, Bees for Dummy, Mini Ag Grant, Ashley Asborne
Date: Summer 2021
Audience: 4-H Age
Project or Activity: Cooking
Content or Curriculum: Super Star Chef, 4-H Breads
Inputs: Homemaker, FCS, 4-H
Date: throughout school year
Audience: 4-H Age
Project or Activity: Afterschool physical activity
Content or Curriculum: SPARK Curriculum, Yoga, 4-H Fitness
Inputs: Community Leaders, Schools, Teen Club
Date: 2020-2022
Audience: Fulton County residents
Project or Activity: Longest Day of Play
Content or Curriculum: UK Publications, eXtension.
Inputs: Agents, FRYSC, volunteers, and community partners,
Date: June 2021
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Cooking through the Calendar
Content or Curriculum: SNAP Calendars, FCS Publications and Healthy Choices for Everybody Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, Community Partners, UK Specialist
Date: 2020-2021
Audience: Senior Citizens
Project or Activity: Senior Citizen Nutrition Programs
Content or Curriculum: USDA Choose My Plate, Healthy Choices for Everybody, Plate It Up, various nutrition topics
Inputs: Senior Centers
Date: 2020-2021 (monthly)
Audience: School Age 0-18
Project or Activity: Food Explorers Cooking Club, LEAP, Try It Days, Recipes for Life and Edible Rainbows
Content or Curriculum: SNAP-Ed materials, Super Star Chef, Plate It Up, various Extension publications
Inputs: Agents and volunteers
Date: School year
Author: Anna Morgan
Major Program: Family Development General
Data from the 2020 Early Childhood Profile indicates that only 56.9% of children in Fulton County are ready to enter kindergarten.Quality family time strengthens bonds, improves communication, and enhances self-esteem of children. The Fulton County Extension Office along with the Hickman Public Library, and the Four River Counties Early Childhood Council hosted the first ever Story Walk event for families at the Hickman City Park. 77 individuals participated in the event.The Story Walk involves
Author: Bernita Cheirs
Major Program: Community Engagement
According to an article by Highland Springs, one of the top ten benefits of spending time with family is that “children who spend more time with their families have shown less risk of behavioral issues, such as violence and substance abuse.” The Fulton Hickman Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (ASAP) provided funds to host a Family event. ASAP Council’s goal is to reduce the incidence of substance and tobacco use in adults and youth. Along with the Fulton County FRYSC and the F
Author: Anna Morgan
Major Program: Family Development General
In Kentucky, “School readiness means that each child enters school ready to engage in and benefit from early learning experiences that best promote the child’s success”. Kentucky has broken school readiness down into five domains: physical and motor development; social and emotional development; approaches to learning; language development; and cognitive development. A child's readiness score is determined by measuring a student’s cognitive, physical and language deve
Author: Benjamin Rudy
Major Program: Horticulture, Consumer and Home
Due to the Covid-19 related restrictions, Extension agents had to be creative in designing programs for the spring of 2021. The pandemic has brought many new challenges to families in Fulton County. However, one of the more positive outcomes has been a revival of home gardening and importance of family togetherness. The Fulton County Cooperative Extension Service Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Science, 4-H and Youth Development all partnered together to d
Author: Anna Morgan
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
In an effort to safely engage clientele in an exciting new way, the Fulton County Recipe Club was started. Only 8 percent of Kentucky adults eat enough fruit, and about 6 percent eat enough vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent report on U.S. fruit and vegetable consumption. Eating enough fruits and vegetables is an important lifestyle factor in the prevention against heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, certain cancers and obesity. In re
Author: Bernita Cheirs
Major Program: Natural Resources
Due to the Covid-19 related restrictions, Extension agents had to be creative in designing programs for the spring of 2021. The pandemic has brought many new challenges to families in Fulton County. However, one of the more positive outcomes has been a revival of home gardening and importance of family togetherness. The Fulton County Cooperative Extension Service Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Science, 4-H and Youth Development all partnered together to d
