According to 2017 data from the State of Childhood Obesity Website, obesity rates among youth ages 2-5 have increased from 8.4% to 13.4% in the last six years.

The Bell County Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Assistant partnered with the Family Resource Youth Services Center Coordinator (FRYSC) at the Page School Center to provide LEAP (Literacy, Eating and Activity for Preschool/Primary) to their Kindergarten students. The SNAP-Ed Assistant visited two classrooms, six times through out the school year. During each visit the SNAP-Ed Assistant read a LEAP book such as Rodeo Ron and his Milkshake Cows or Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie; provided each student with a sample of a healthy snack related to the story like milkshake in a bag or sampling fresh apples or apple juice; engaged the group in a physical activity such as apple race and keep the plaque away and provided a snap-ed related reinforcement item for each student to take home. There was a total of 27 Kindergarteners enrolled between both classes.

After completing the program, the teachers talked about how they noticed students eating more of the fruits and vegetables on their lunch tray, trying new foods when offered to them and making better beverage choices. One student said” I didn’t know that some of these foods that taste good are actually good for me”.