Success Story Healthy Eating Habits of After School Programming
Healthy Eating Habits of After School Programming
Author: Michele Moore
Planning Unit: Butler County CES
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
Outcome: Initial Outcome
The 2020-2025 dietary guidelines Healthy Eating Index Score Across Childhood and Adolescences ranks children ages 5-8 years at 55 and youth 9-13 years at 52 out of a possible score of 100. This indicates that diet quality in children in the US is not only poor but also diminishes as they age putting them at risk for health problems in the future. The Butler County NEP assistant partnered with two after school programs to help teach the children in these age categories the importance of eating healthy now and develop healthy eating habits. A group of eighteen K-2 students and a group of twenty 3rd through 5th grade students were taught Nutrition Education at Bear’s Den after school program. Both groups met 6 hours over the course of 6 weeks for 6 lessons. At the end of the sessions each group showed significant improvement in diet quality. Surveys indicate that the K-2 students had an increase of 83 percent. They increased knowledge in the identification of dairy products and vegetables. The group of 3rd-5th grade students increased their diet quality to 95 percent. Their greatest improvements were the frequency of drinking fruit flavored and sports drinks and improvements in eating fruits as a snack. The Butler County Nutrition Education Program Assistant and partners from Bears Den after school program worked together to teach the importance of developing healthy eating for children in Butler County and continues to work together to further educate this youth group with future planned endeavors.
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