Success StoryHealthy Me!



Healthy Me!

Author: Christina A. Martin

Planning Unit: Russell County CES

Major Program: Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Core Curriculum

Plan of Work: Growing Up Healthy, Fit, and Safe

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

Nutrition education and healthy lifestyles were identified by local leadership councils to be an educational priority for youth to help combat obesity crisis in the state.  According to the Trust for America’s Healthy Survey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kentucky’s obesity rate for children ages 10-17 has increased to over 21%. Instructing children with the aspects of healthy nutritional choices at a young age is critical to addressing issues of weight. The 4-H Agent presented a series of 5 activities based on PyPlate to 100 third grade youth in the Russell County School System. The activities were based on the Professor Popcorn curriculum; the youth learned about the 5 food groups on MyPlate and were able to sample foods at most of the meetings. They identified foods within each group, discussed serving sizes, and discussed the location of these items in a grocery store. After the program, the youth were given a survey to see what changes they had made because of the program. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the youth ate more vegetables and eighty percent (80%) ate more fruit now than before the program. Approximately, sixty percent of the youth had tried a new fruit or vegetable. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the youth said that they eat breakfast, and ninety-six percent (96%) said that they did physical activities most days of the week. Finally, ninety-three percent (93%) of the youth said that they ate more healthy foods now than they did before the program.






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