Get Moving Kentucky 

Rowan County Middle School

Rowan County has a rate of 33% of school age children are either overweight or obese. As part of a joint effort the Cooperative Extension FCS Agent in cooperation with the Rowan County Middle School and Rowan County Community Education, we decided to do an exercise/nutrition education with a target group. Get Moving Kentucky Program was conducted in a double PE Class that had 70 students, a mix of 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders. The FCS Agent open the class with an exercise/walking program that went for ten days, nutrition classes were taught and information was given to encourage students to get moving more and eat better.Emphasis was on healthy snacks, portion control, avoid fast food restaurants and increase their water intake was also addressed. The top 10 students that walked the longest distance in 10 days had a total of 400 miles; we noted that this is the distances from the Ohio Bridge in Ashland, KY to the Indiana Bridge in Louisville, KY then back to Ashland, KY. Sixty-five of the students completed a survey on how their exercise has changed after participating in the Get Moving Kentucky program. Students were impressed that they could increase their exercise so easy as to just do extra walking.    Simple is better.

8 of the 10 students that walked the most were 6^th graders

2 were 7^th grades,

no 8^th graders were in the top 10 walking group

45% of the students are engaged in an extra sport or activity before the class.

55% of the students are now engaged with an extra activity after the class, a 10% increase