According to 2017 data from the State of Obesity website, the obesity rate for children ages 10 to 17 in Kentucky is 19.3%. This places Kentucky at third highest in the nation for childhood obesity rates in this age group. In addition, the Rockcastle County Extension Council identified childhood obesity as a grassroots issue facing the community. Recent research has indicated that teaching cooking skills to children encourages healthier food choices, which can lower obesity rates. In an effort to address this problem, the Rockcastle County 4-H Youth Development agent partnered with the Brodhead Elementary School and Roundstone Elementary School Family Resource Center Coordinators to present 4-H Culinary Club, a six-week club for students in fifth grade that is designed to teach kitchen safety, food safety, nutrition concepts, and physical activity. In addition, the students practiced food preparation skills with supervision.

In total, 32 fifth-grade students participated in the 4-H Culinary Club. Overall, pretest and posttest comparisons of total participant scores show that the program enhanced understanding of the concepts taught by the program. In addition, 100% of the participating students agreed or strongly agreed that they had learned how to identify healthy foods, 94% planned to drink more water, and 100% planned to be more physically active. Also, participants’ cooking self-efficacy increased from pretest to posttest. Several of the parents commented on how much the kids liked coming to the afterschool camp and reported that their children had prepared some recipes at home for their families.