In the spring of 2021, the Family Support Supervisor for Every Child Succeeds (ECS), a program provided by the Brighton Center, contacted the Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant of the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service about doing a healthy snacks program for parents and their children.  The goal of Brighton Center is to help families reach self-sufficiency through family support services, education, employment, and leadership.  The virtual program for parents and children was so successful the Family Support Supervisor for ECS asked the NEP Assistant to offer an entire series for her participating families.

To keep everyone safe during the ongoing pandemic, the Healthy Choices for Every Body series was conducted virtually over ZOOM.  Six moms with young school-aged children and/or preschoolers enrolled in the group, with five of the moms completing the 7-session series. A private Facebook Group was also set up for the moms who could not participate in the live sessions. If the families could not participate in the live session, they would watch the session posted on the Facebook Group and comment on something new they learned.

The NEP Assistant taught the moms the importance of planning their meals in advance to save money at the grocery store; how to budget their food and other expenses; how to prepare budget-friendly, nutritious meals; and how to purchase, prepare, and store food safely.  She also taught them the importance of being physically active with their children so the children would grow up to be healthy adults.  As a part of each session, the NEP Assistant demonstrated how to make a kid-friendly healthy snack. To practice what they learned, the families made the snack at home with the ingredients that had been previously purchased and delivered by the ECS supervisor.  

According to the nationally recognized web-based reporting system (WebNEERS), at the end of the series 100% of the participants had improved their diet quality by consuming more food in at least one of five food groups.  Eighty percent of the moms were comparing food prices more often and were using a written weekly or monthly food spending plan to save money on groceries.  One participant commented, “I love the tips on how to measure foods without actually measuring foods! (Comparing portion sizes to thumb, hands etc.)  I never have easy access to measuring tools when preparing plates/snacks, but this is a neat trick to keep us mindful!”  After the food safety lesson, the ECS supervisor had delivered flexible cutting mats and meat thermometers to the participants, and at the end of the series 40% were now using the meat thermometer more frequently and thawing frozen food at room temperature less often.  Food safety was a component of the sessions in this series. Six people participated in these sessions and 2 reported learning a new food safety technique.  According to data from a University of Kentucky Food and Nutrition Specialist, every person who receives education regarding some aspect of food borne illness prevention, saves their state an estimated $1,000.  Potential savings to Kentucky citizens, businesses, and government due to food safety education included in this Healthy Choices for Every Body series is $2,000.

At the completion of the series, each family received an insulated grocery bag and other kitchen tools such as measuring cups and spoons, a food grater, vegetable brush/peeler, colander, and a 4-in1 tool to use in their own kitchen.