The prevalence of obesity in America has been an ongoing and increasing issue. In Kentucky, 30% of adults are obese, while Shelby County has a 30.9% obesity rate. The low-income preschool obesity rates are alarming as well, with 21.3% of children being overweight or obese in Shelby County, and 15.9% of children being overweight and obese in the entire state. According to Kentucky Health News in early 2014, only 23% of Kentuckians consume the recommended 5 or more servings a day of fruits and vegetables. In order to help decrease the prevalence of obesity in Shelby County, the Cooperative Extension Office has created a local nutrition program to present to 4-Hers in 4^th and 5^th grade classrooms.

The 4-H Agent worked with the Family Consumer Science (FCS) Agent to bring the program to 26 4-H clubs in Shelby County elementary schools. A total of 782 children participated in the 4-H school club nutrition program titled "Eat Right, Be Active Every Day!" in March 2018. Sixty days later, the classroom teachers had 209 students complete a follow-up survey that revealed 54% of these students ate 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily, 86% of the group ate breakfast each morning to have energy for the day, 63% ate healthy snacks to get the nutrition they need each day, and 87% chose nutritious drinks such as water, milk, and 100% fruit juice. Eighty-one percent of the students said they shared their new nutrition knowledge with their families. All of these statistics are better than the Kentucky averages.

Student participants wrote…

“I shared with a friend that you need to eat healthy by eating vegetables.”

“I told my mother that me and her should start eating apples, strawberries, bananas and salad!”

“I shared with my little brother that we should always check how much sugar is in our cereal before we buy it.”

“I shared with my mom that we need to eat breakfast every morning and that we need to eat 5 servings of fruits/vegetables each day and that we need to eat healthy snacks and that we do all of this to be healthier.”