According to the 2018-2019 Trust for America’s Healthy Survey, Kentucky’s obesity rate for children ages 10-17 is 23%. Instructing children with the aspects of healthy nutritional choices at a young age is critical to addressing issues of weight.

To address this issue, the Pulaski County Nutrition Education Program Assistant collaborated with Sunrise Children’s Services to offer a six-session Teen Cuisine curriculum to high school students. The Nutrition Education Program assistant taught monthly lessons to 35 male, high school students. The curriculum addressed key concepts about nutrition, food preparation and cooking, food safety, and physical activity.  Throughout the program, students learned how to apply the 5 food groups on MyPlate to meal and snack planning, how to identify foods and beverages that are low in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium, how to read and follow a recipe, safe knife-handling skills, and ways to be more physically active.   

At the end of the program, reports indicated that all the students (100%) improved their ability to choose healthy foods and improved their ability to prepare simple, nutritious foods. Over ninety percent (91%) did physical activity most days of the week, and eighty-nine percent (89%) used safe food handling practices more often.