Extension
It Starts With Us
Active Living, Health Promotions, and Food Systems
Health and Wellness
Pullin, Hieneman, Stephens, Adkins
Active Living and Health Promotions General
Local Food Systems
Health & Wellbeing
Arts and Community Health
With the increased trend of chronic disease and obesity in Kentucky, individuals, families, and communities need tools and environments that support healthy and active lifestyle choices. CES agents are encouraged to reach diverse audiences to help combat chronic disease and obesity in Kentucky communities. Focusing on a foundation of overall direct health education to increase health literacy and ability to make healthy lifestyle choices. A foundation of nutrition knowledge, skills and competencies in topics such as food safety, handling and preparation, cooking methods and techniques, feeding practices, food science, and food systems are essential to changing dietary behaviors. Including, creating spaces or opportunities for active living and health behaviors.
- Routinely meeting physical activity and dietary recommendations that promote health and wellness (e.g. 150 minutes a week of moderate activity and consuming recommended daily fruits and vegetables)
- Community environment promotes healthy behaviors where people live, learn, work, and play
- Reduce the rate of chronic disease and obesity
- Routinely employ healthy dietary practices that promote health and wellness (e.g. consume recommended daily fruits and vegetables and improve food management skills)
- Reduced number of children in foster care
- Reduced incarceration
- Increased number of youth maintaining positive health habits;
- Increased number of youth at a lower risk for serious disease and illness;
- Increased number of youth at a lower risk for physical and emotional distress
- Reduce the number of youth reporting drug, alcohol, and tobacco use
- Increase number of youth and adults who actively engage in creativity to support their own mental health
- Generate positive attitudes toward changing lifestyle choices to be more healthy
- Increase intake of fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods
- Improve self-efficacy in physical activity, movement, and active routes to destinations
- Decrease intake of solid fats, added sugars, and sodium
- Employ healthful cooking methods, feeding practices, and food preservation techniques
- Increased access to healthy food via local farmers markets, food retailers, and/or home gardens
- Increased adoption and mastery of healthy behaviors that lead to a healthy lifestyle
- New coalitions developed to address SUC and MH
- Improved access and utilization of resources
- Improved perceived stress and ability to cope
- Youth will contribute to their communities
- Youth will practice refusal skills,
- Youth will intervene to prevent use/abuse
- All agents trained in YMHFA
- Support students who participate in "Breakfast With The Arts" at their school
- Increase awareness about lifestyle choices and chronic disease (e.g. tobacco use, poor nutrition, & lack of physical activity)
- Increase confidence in ability to employ healthy practices
- Improve food and nutrition-related skills (e.g. preparation techniques, safe food handling)
- Increase motivation to be active
- Increase awareness of accessible safe places for activity
- Increase awareness about relationships between food and nutrition practices and chronic disease.
- Improve food and nutrition-related skills (e.g. gardening, preparation and preservation techniques, safe food handling, food resource management)
- Increase confidence in ability to employ healthy eating practices
- Increase motivation to access and prepare healthier foods
- Increase individual participation in creativity outlets
- Increase students eating breakfast at school
- Increase interest in creative outlets for mental health
Outcome: Chronic Disease Prevention
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: participants who had one or more health indicator (cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, blood glucose) improved.
Method: Self-report survey
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Outcome: Availability and access to healthy food
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: utilizing delivery systems/access points (e.g., farmers’ markets, food pantries) that offer healthy foods; supplementing diets with healthy foods grown or preserved (e.g.,farmers markets); number of pints of foods preserved through water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, or drying.
Method: Self-report survey
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Outcome: Nutrition knowledge, skills, and competencies
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: use knowledge and skills to improve food-shopping management; utilize the food label to make healthy food choices; choosing smaller portions; increased food preservation knowledge; demonstrated recommended food preservation practices
Method: Self-report surveys; specific curricula or program evaluations
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Outcome: Physical Activity knowledge, skills, and competencies
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: knowledge and skills gained about the benefits of physical activity; adoption of physical activity practices; increase in physical activity levels
Method: Self-report survey
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Outcome: Nutrition knowledge, skills, and competencies
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: use knowledge and skills to improve food-choices for breakfast
Method: Self-report surveys; specific curricula or program evaluations
Timeline: school year
Audience: Communities
Project or Activity: Farmers Market Outreach
Content or Curriculum: Cooking programs, marketing, increased access, Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud resources, Farmers Market Toolkit, Super Star Chef
Inputs: Nutrition Education Program (NEP), paid staff, facilities, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Date: May – October/Growing seasons
Project or Activity: Policy, Systems, and Environmental Approaches
Content or Curriculum: Pathways to Wellness, Health Coalitions, resources for early care and education settings
Inputs: Volunteers, grant funds, faith-based organizations, community partners, key stakeholders, SNAP-Ed Toolkit
Date: Multiple projects throughout the year
Audience: Families and Individuals
Project or Activity: Chronic Disease Prevention
Content or Curriculum: Publications, Health Bulletins, Cook Together Eat Together, Savor the Flavor, Dining with Diabetes, Pathways to Wellness, Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud Resources, Health Partners, Keys to Embracing Aging
Inputs: Programmatic materials, paid staff, community partners, faith-based organizations, health coalitions, Healthcare Providers, Health Department, Non-profits, Schools, Company Health & Wellness, Homemakers, Community Centers, etc.
Date: Multiple projects throughout the year
Project or Activity: Food Preparation for Better Health
Content or Curriculum: Cook Together Eat Together, Dining with Diabetes, Super Star Chef, Pathways to Wellness, Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud Resources, plans for prenatal- and infant/toddler-specific curriculum, resources for early care and education settings
Inputs: Programmatic materials, paid staff, community partners, faith-based organizations, health coalitions
Date: Multiple projects throughout the year
Project or Activity: Homeschool Cooking Club
Content or Curriculum: Cook Together Eat Together, Recipes for Life, Super Star Chef, Eat Smart, Play Hard, Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud Resources
Inputs: Programmatic materials, FCS & 4H Agents, community partners
Date: Monthly Lessons
Project or Activity: Physical Activity
Content or Curriculum: Publications, Pathways to Wellness, Story Walk, Shared Space Agreements, Health Coalitions, Health Partners, Keys to Embracing Aging
Inputs: Paid staff, volunteers, facilities, health coalitions, Healthcare Providers, Health Department, Non-profits, Schools, Homemakers, Community Centers
Date: Periodically each year
Project or Activity: Physical activity
Content or Curriculum: Incorporating physical activities (local walking tracks) into Extension programming
Inputs: Local volunteers
Date: All activities held on Extension property
Project or Activity: Breakfast With The Arts
Content or Curriculum: Providing a structured peer-performance opportunity for students during school breakfast time that includes coaching and a nutrition lesson
Inputs: Community Arts Agent, Teacher volunteer
Date: school year
Audience: Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association/Volunteers
Project or Activity: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Content or Curriculum: Health Bulletins, Monthly Leader Lessons, Mastering Food Choices, International Cuisine publications, Food preservation workshops, Monthly Leader Lessons
Inputs: Volunteers, paid staff, community partners
Date: Monthly
Project or Activity: 4-H Camps
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Youth Development
Inputs: Agents, Local youth and adult volunteers, Community Sponsors, Other Organizations
Date: Summer 2023,2024
Audience: Greenup County Community Members
Project or Activity: Greenup County Farm to Table Dinner
Content or Curriculum: N/A
Inputs: Agents, Staff, Volunteers
Date: Summer
Project or Activity: MARK - Mindful Arts in Recovery Kentucky
Content or Curriculum: MARK published by CEDIK
Inputs: Agents: Fine Arts and FCS, Greenup County Jail
Date: 2024/2025
Author: Lora Pullin
Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General
Health promotion programs have long focused on education about personal health behaviors like tobacco and alcohol use, diet, physical activity, and sleep. Personal behaviors have an important role in health, but they are not the whole story. The conditions in which people live, work, learn, and play have an even greater influence on one’s quantity and quality of life. To improve the health of people and communities, we need to have conversations about the variety of factors that influence
