Making Better Choices for Healthier LifestylesPlan of Work

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Franklin County CES

Title:
Making Better Choices for Healthier Lifestyles
MAP:
Developing Healthier Lifestyles through Family Life Education
Agents Involved:
K. Perry; A. Leonberger; T. Thomas
MAJOR PROGRAM 1:
Health
MAJOR PROGRAM 2:
Active Living and Health Promotions General
MAJOR PROGRAM 3:
Community Health Needs Assessment
Situation:

Franklin County has three primary adult behavioral risk factors that significantly impact our community’s health outcomes: obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking. Closely related to many of Franklin County’s leading causes of death is an adult obesity rate of 30% compared to a Kentucky rate of 32% and a U.S. rate of 34.9%. Childhood Obesity Action Network reported that in 2007, 37.1% of Kentucky children aged 10-17 were overweight or obese exceeding the national rate of 31.6%. Locally collected data from a study conducted by the Franklin County Health Department discovered that out of 416 4th and 5th grade Franklin County students, 41% of them were obese. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data was collected for high school students and showed that 33.2% were overweight or obese in Kentucky compared to 27.8% in the nation.


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% 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 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. The obesity epidemic, as well as the other behavioral risk factors, threatens the quality and years of the life of Franklin County citizens.


Another factor linked to obesity is sedentary lifestyles. It was found that 29.6% of adults in the Franklin County area did not participate in any physical activity in the past 30 days compared to 30.5% of Kentucky. Again these rates exceed the national rate of 24.8%. YRBS data indicate no physical activity for 17% of Kentucky and 23.1% of U.S. high school students.


The third contributing factor to poor health is smoking. Research data shows a local rate of 22.6% for Franklin County, Kentucky rate of 25.2% and national adult smoking rate of 18.3% (KDPH, 2008). Although both the Kentucky and Franklin County rates are still higher than the national percentages, this data does reflect a decrease in recent years. Similarly, the Kentucky youth smoking rate is 26.1%, and the U.S. rate is 19.5%.

Healthy living is one of three 4-H mission mandates and encompasses: physical activity, personal safety, mental health, addiction prevention, and diversity and inclusion.  In Kentucky, 51% of youth report not exercising regularly, 25% report some form of emotional or behavioral condition and suicide rates are at record high (KY suicides per 100,000 people: 15.3, 10th highest in nation). Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health disease can affect anyone, with 1,160 reported opioid-involved deaths (a rate of 27.9 deaths per 100,000 persons) in Kentucky and Vaping nearly doubled among middle and high school students — with 27% of high school seniors reporting they had tried the product in 2018.



Long-Term Outcomes:

•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.


•Manage and prevent the risk, debilitation, and premature death related to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke and hypertension.

Intermediate Outcomes:

•Increased adoption and mastery of healthy behaviors that lead to a healthy lifestyle that include making healthy lifestyle choices.

•Practice healthy food choices, physical activity, and strengthen individuals’ ability to build healthy eating plans and patterns.

•Strengthen community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity, physical inactivity and chronic disease.


Initial Outcomes:

•Youth and adults will learn the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.

•Youth and adults understand the benefits of making proactive healthy choices.

•Youth and adults will gain an understanding in healthy lifestyles and the necessary skills for a healthy lifestyle.

Youth and adults will

Evaluation:

Initial Outcome: Increase in the practice and promotion of physical activity and healthy eating daily.

Indicator: Reported increase in physical activity and healthy eating

Method: Pre- and post-surveys

Timeline: Before and after programs


Intermediate Outcome: Strengthen community coalitions or partnerships to address obesity, physical activity, and chronic disease.

Indicator: Increase in coalitions and partnerships

Method: Extension records and observation

Timeline: After programs and coalition building


Long-term Outcome: Youth and adults understand the benefits of making proactive healthy choices.

Indicator: Reported understanding of benefits

Method: Pre- and post-surveys

Timeline: Before and after programs


Outcome to be Evaluated:

Learning Opportunities:

Audience: Youth & Adults

Project or Activity: Afterschool Clubs, Project Days, Camp Classes, FCS Cooking classes,

Content or Curriculum: Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices, Plate It Up, You're the Chef, Food, Culture, and Reading curriculum, Cooking 101-401 Curriculum

Inputs: CES Staff, CES Agents, Specialists, CES publications, community partners

Date: September - August


Audience: Youth & Adults

Project or Activity: 4-H Cooking Club; Recipe of the Month

Content or Curriculum: Food Preservation, Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices, Plate It Up, You're the Chef, Food, Culture, and Reading curriculum, Cooking 101-401 Curriculum, SNAP Curriculum

Inputs: CES Agent and Staff, Specialists, CES publications, community partners, SNAP Program Assistants

Date: September - August


Audience: Youth

Project or Activity: In-School Club

Content or Curriculum: Health Rocks, Exploring the Treasures of 4-H, My Financial Future, Step Up to Leadership, Moneywise, MITT, STEPS to a Healthy Teen

Inputs: Paid staff, volunteers, facilities, outside funding

Date: September – May


Audience: Community

Project or Activity: Home Gardening Class

Content or Curriculum: Gardening classes from Master Gardeners

Inputs: Master Gardeners volunteers, Farmer's Market

Date: January - December


Audience: Community

Project or Activity: Healthy Cooking, Food Preservation, HM Leader Lessons

Content or Curriculum: FCS Agents, SNAP Assistants, Specialist

Inputs: FCS Agents, Homemakers, Related Publications

Date: September - August



Success Stories

Cast Iron Cooking 101

Author: Tamera Magee

Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General

The Franklin County FCS agent through a request from Paul Sawyier Library offered a class on using Cast Iron in cooking.  The virtual presentation covered the purchase, seasoning, how to use and care for cast iron so that it can last from one generation to the next.  Participants were able to ask questions ranging from cooking tips to restoration. According to library statistics, sixty-nine (69)  individuals joined the live presentation. Since that time, the presentation has recei

Full Story

Souper Quick/Soup for the Soul

Author: Tamera Magee

Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General

COVID-19 restrictions caused families to prepare more meals at home.  For many families, food budgets were decreased due to job loss. Others may want to eliminate food waste by creatively using leftovers in soups.  The Franklin Co. Cooperative Service partnered with the local library to offer Souper Quick. Soups are a great way to increase the variety of vegetables in one's diet. This Facebook live presentation focused on the types of soups and how to incorporate them when meal pla

Full Story

Mastering Food Choices

Author: Tamera Magee

Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General

Americans are inundated with food choices.  We can choose to eat or drink based on availability, nutritional value, cost, taste, cultural traditions, etc. We can choose to eat at home or dine out at restaurants. We can purchase pre-packed meals or enroll in a meal-kit delivery system. With all of these opportunities, we need to know to "master" our food choices.    Unfortunately, some of our choices have contributed to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The Franklin C

Full Story

Truth & Consequences, Virtually

Author: Krista Perry

Major Program: Health

From the closing of schools in Spring 2020 to the late Fall, Franklin County saw an increase of crime and emergency room visits with adolescents, according to the Franklin County Sheriffs office and the Frankfort Regional Hospital.  Most of the crime incidents and emergency room visits were related to drugs and alcohol, which led to the need and hosting of the Truth & Consequences program, virtually.  The Truth & Consequences program is typically set up as scenarios to provide

Full Story

Substance Use and Prevention

Author: Tamera Magee

Major Program: Substance Use Prevention and Recovery General

Substance use and substance use disorder (SUD) are pervasive public health problems in the United States, and specifically, in the state of Kentucky.  In the year since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the United States suffered a record 88,000 overdose deaths (CDC, 2021).  More specifically, Kentucky counties have seen increases in hospitalizations, infectious diseases, non-fatal overdoses, and other complications related to drug use, all while leading the nation

Full Story
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