In an effort to increase youth outreach for the Nutrition Education Program, the SNAP-Ed senior program assistant reached out to EJ Hayes Middle School to provide nutrition education classes to a group of 8th grade students. Over the course of 7 lessons based on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) My Plate guidelines, students were instructed on food preparation, food safety, and other aspects illustrating the importance of selecting healthy foods and engaging in physical activity. As a part of their instruction students would prepare a healthy meal that highlighted one of the aspects of nutrition covered in class. In order to measure the effectiveness of the instruction, an assessment was administered on the first and last meeting of the group. 

As illustrated by the exit survey, 84% of students in the class improved on one or more indicators of diet quality. This includes the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, selecting healthy beverages, and preparing healthy meals at home instead of consuming high fat/sugar processed snacks. Additionally 72% of students reported increasing their physical activity. The importance of physical activity for this age group has been studied and confirmed repeatedly. One study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that only 10% of teenagers get the recommended hour of physical activity each day. A sedentary lifestyle has many negative health effects that can follow teens through their lives, such as an increased risk of depression, heart disease and high blood pressure. The classes provided by the Nutrition Education Program agent showed the students in an effective way of how to make small changes to their daily habits that have led to a significant change in the students’ behaviors.