According to 2020 U.S. Census data, Kentucky has the second-highest drug overdose death rate in the United States.  Kenton County has been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. Although the overdose deaths in Kenton County decreased in 2018 and 2019, the numbers began increasing again in 2020.

The Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Senior Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service continued a partnership with the Mary Gandy Travis Residential Treatment Center (RTC) to offer nutrition education programming to the residents at RTC.  Programming expanded from the women’s unit at RTC to include nutrition education programming within the men’s unit of RTC.  The NEP Senior Assistant taught the Healthy Choices for Every Body 7-lesson series to the men’s group and women’s group on separate days of the week.  She taught the residents food safety practices such as thawing food properly and using a food thermometer; food resource management practices such as meal planning and shopping with a grocery list; and the importance of diet quality such as adding more fruits and vegetables and drinking soda less frequently. As a part of the class, the NEP Senior Assistant asked for volunteers to help with the food demonstration each week of class.  One gentleman said, “Thanks for allowing me to help you cook.   Cooking calms me and helps me feel better.”  A participant from the women’s class said, “When I am using, I typically don’t eat much at all.  Now that I am in recovery and taking this class, I am eating healthier.”

The series greatly impacted the 69 participants who completed it (46 women and 23 men). According to a web-based National Reporting System (WebNEERS), at the end of series, 93.5% of graduates showed improvement in one or more diet quality indicators (eating more fruits and vegetables, including red, orange, and dark green, and drinking less regular soda); 86% of all graduates showed improvement in food resource management (learning how to compare food prices, make a shopping list, and meal plan before shopping); 77 % showed improvement in one or more food safety practices (washing hands before preparing food, cleaning all surfaces after cutting raw meat, learning to thaw frozen food properly and learning to use a food thermometer properly).  According to data from a University of Kentucky Food and Nutrition Specialist, every person who receives education regarding some aspect of food borne illness prevention, saves their state an estimated $1,000.   Potential savings to Kentucky citizens, businesses, and government due to food safety education included in this Healthy Choices for Every Body series is $50,000. Fifty graduates showed an improvement in their food safety practices. In addition to the 69 graduates at RTC, 107 more women and 42 other men attended one or more sessions of the 7-lesson series.

Plans are being made to offer classes again to new residents at RTC beginning in January 2024, using the Healthy Choices for Your Recovering Body curriculum.