Nutrition education and healthy lifestyles were identified by local leadership councils to be an educational priority for youth to help combat obesity crisis in the state.  According to the Trust for America’s Healthy Survey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kentucky’s obesity rate for children ages 10-17 has increased to over 21%.  Instructing children with the aspects of healthy nutritional choices at a young age is critical to addressing issues of weight.  The 4-H Agent presented a series of 5 activities based on MyPlate to approximately 210 third grade youth in the Russell County School System.  The activities were based on the Professor Popcorn curriculum; the youth learned about the 5 food groups on MyPlate and were able to sample foods at most of the meetings.  They identified foods within each group, discussed serving sizes, discussed the agricultural component of each group, and discussed the location of these items in a grocery store.  After the program, the youth were given a survey to see what changes they had made because of the program.  The results are as follows:

1. 90% of the youth said that our healthy living equation (Healthy Food + Physical Activity = Healthy Me) was a true statement for their life
2. 85% of the youth had physical activity most days of the week
3. 77% of the youth ate breakfast most days of the week
4. 65% of the youth ate more fruits and vegetables since participating in the MyPlate lessons
5. 64% of the youth ate more healthy snacks than they did before this program

Several of the youth indicted that they had tried new foods over the last few months. One of the most popular fruits that was tried was star fruit. Some of the more popular vegetables that were tried carrots and broccoli.