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 214 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.  Seventy-two percent (72%) of the youth ate more vegetables and eighty-five percent (85%) ate more fruit now than before the program.  Approximately, fifty percent of the youth had tried a new food over the last four months; some of the more popular foods that had been tried were star fruit, dragon fruit, peppers, and broccoli.  Eighty-two percent (82%) of the youth said that they eat breakfast and that they participated physical activities most days of the week.  Finally, seventy-five percent (75%) of the youth said that they ate more healthy foods now than they did before the program.  

When asked about their favorite components of the program, several youth said they liked the healthy snack that they received at each meeting while others felt like the extension staff cared about them.  One youth said the program “helped them learn what a serving size is.”