Eating a well-balanced diet is important for bodies to function well. Studies show including fruits and vegetables in your daily diet can help reduce the risk of many diet-related chronic diseases. 

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends minimum daily intake of 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables for females aged 14–18 years and 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables for males aged 14–18 years.” Most teens do not meet these USDA recommendations. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2019 data shows that 6.3% of high school students do not regularly consume fruits, and 7.9% do not regularly consume vegetables. 

In 2022 Boone County’s Nutrition Education Program Assistant  collaborated with Boone County’s 4H youth Agent to create a nutrition program that focuses on ways to increase daily fruit and vegetable intake amongst teens in Boone County. 

They partnered with Boone County’s Court Diversion Youth Division and conducted a 6 week nutrition program with 14 middle and high school students. Each week the children were encouraged to try new foods, along with learning about food safety, knife skills, healthy snacking, and numerous ways to incorporate fruit and vegetables into their daily diet. One of the lessons taught was on added sugars. The children learned the difference between natural and added sugars, the various names for sugar and how to identify if a product includes added sugars on the nutrition facts label. During that lesson, the children prepared a healthy and nutritious snack- a smoothie that incorporated various fruits. The students were delighted with the taste. Some comments that were heard from the students were “This smoothie tastes fantastic,” “I cannot believe how easy it was to make,” “I would rather drink this than an iced coffee, I could save a ton of money too.” 

Healthy habits are formed at an early age, these programs help promote healthy eating. Our goal is to educate the youth, so these healthy habits may continue into their adulthood. 

1. Nutrition Habits of U.S. High School Students. (n.d.). The State of Childhood Obesity. https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/high-school-nutrition/

 2. Youth Online: High School YRBS - United States 2017 Results | DASH | CDC. (2017). Cdc.gov; CDC.gov. https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline/App/Results.aspx?TT=A&OUT=0&SID=HS&QID=QQ&LID=XX&YID=2017&LID2=&YID2=&COL=S&ROW1=N&ROW2=N&HT=QQ&LCT=LL&FS=S1&FR=R1&FG=G1&FA=A1&FI=I1&FP=P1&FSL=S1&FRL=R1&FGL=G1&FAL=A1&FIL=I1&FPL=P1&PV=&TST=False&C1=&C2=&QP=G&DP=1&VA=CI&CS=Y&SYID=&EYID=&SC=DEFAULT&SO=ASC

3. Lange, S. J., Moore, L. V., Harris, D. M., Merlo, C. L., Lee, S. H., Demissie, Z., & Galuska, D. A. (2021). Percentage of Adolescents Meeting Federal Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations — Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, United States, 2017. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(3), 69–74. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7003a1