Author: Kelly Alsip
Planning Unit: McCracken County CES
Major Program: Super Star Chef
Plan of Work: McCracken County Family and Consumer Sciences and Supplemental Nutrition Education
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
According to 2017 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the obesity rate for children ages 9 to 12 in Kentucky is 20.2%. The McCracken County Extension Council identified childhood obesity as an important health issue facing the community. Recent research has indicated that teaching cooking skills to children encourages healthier food choices, which can lower obesity rates. To address this problem, on June 27-29th 2023, the McCracken County Family Consumer Science agent and six community volunteers presented Superstar Chef Camp at the McCracken County Extension Office. In attendance were 18 youths to this three-day camp for students ages 9 through 12. The camp is designed to teach kitchen safety, food safety, nutrition concepts, and physical activity. In addition, the students practiced food preparation skills with supervision. Pre-and Post-Evaluations were given, and 17 of the 18 students had positive changes in all 9 surveyed skill and knowledge areas. The students were given a full day of activities partnering with the Paducah River Discovery Center created science-based activities and experiments for them to explore the scientific world of our local environment. All the activities were performed on-site at the McCracken County extension office. Day-long activities were planned so that children of working parents could participate to have pickup and drop-off times feasible for parents' work schedules.
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