The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports, Kentucky youth rank among the 10 highest for obesity in the U.S.. According to the U.S. Census, approximately 19% of Kentucky’s total population is living in poverty. Approximately 27% percent of children and youth under the age of 18 live in poverty.  44.6% of adolescents reported consuming fruit less than one time daily and 42.7% of adolescents reported consuming vegetables less than one time daily. Only 22.5% of adolescents were reported to be physically active at least 60 minutes per day on all 7 days in the past week.  15.4% of adolescents were overweight and 18.0% of adolescents had obesity. These are statistics that can be changed to help combat carrying these over to adulthood.

Perry County Family and Consumer Science agent met with the Challenger Leadership Group and 4H youth participants and presented Teen Cuisine lessons to the group in the Spring of 2023. The FCS agent showed the teens how to choose affordable healthy food by comparing food prices, food and knife safety, the importance of MyPlate, and basics of cooking . Teens enjoyed preparing healthy recipes, working on food safety experiments, and learning to increase their physical activities. Some of the favorite lessons were healthier breakfast choices, Think Your Drink, and Test Your Knowledge Trivia. Youth from Eastern Kentucky are not always exposed to those flavors and recipes, this program provided a safe learning environment to have fun, try new things and most of plan to repeat the recipes at home.

At the completion of the class, 100% youth improved their ability to choose foods according to Federal Dietary Recommendations. Seventy-eight percent of the youth adopted and practiced two or more food selection behavior(s) consistent with Federal Dietary Guideline recommendations; while 63% of youth adopted and practiced three or more food selection behavior(s) consistent with Federal Dietary Guideline recommendations.

• 65% improved in their responses to: Yesterday, how many fruits? 
• 53% improved in their responses to: How often do you choose whole grains?
• 75% improved their physical activity practices or gained knowledge.
• 73% adopted and practiced 1 or more behavior(s) necessary to handle food safely.

Perry County Extension will continue to work with youth, to help them learn to eat healthily on a budget and hopefully, reduce the level of obesity in our county by using the Teen Cuisine Curriculum and other healthy eating lessons.