The CDC recommends childhood and adolescents eat healthy for proper growth and development and for prevention of various health conditions. They state, “Schools are in a unique position to provide students with opportunities to learn about and practice healthy eating behaviors.” The Butler County Nutrition Education Program Assistant partnered with Belmont Christian Academy to assist in this effort.

Three separate healthy eating day camps were conducted at The Butler County Extension Service for Belmont students. LEAP lessons were taught to twenty K-2 students, Professor Popcorn was taught to thirteen students in grades 3-5, and Teen Cuisine was taught to fourteen students in 6^th -8^th grade. Each day camp consisted of hands-on cooking and tasting of new recipes, a focus on physical activity as well as food safety.

The results were outstanding. 75% of the K-2 students improved their responses of identifying when to wash their hands and 75% improved in diet quality indicators. 85% of students in grades 3-5 increased improvements in diet quality and food safety. Grades 6-8 indicated 79 % improvement in diet quality and a 71% overall improvement in physical activity. One student sent a thank you card that said, “Thank you for the fun we had learning about eating from the different food groups”, while another said, “Thank you for telling me about food. Tonight, we will have the cooked grilled cheese sandwich for supper. I loved it so much. I hope we can come back one day. I can’t stop telling people about it.”

The successes of these three-day camps were made possible by the Butler County Nutrition Education Program, Butler County Cooperative Extension, and Belmont Christian Academy.