A recent report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that Kentucky has the highest rate of child and adolescent obesity in the country. A closer look at the data finds that half of Kentucky’s children living in poverty from ages 10 to 17 years old are overweight or obese. Strategies to address this issue must occur at all levels, including at the individual level, by establishing healthy behaviors related to nutrition and physical activity.  The Kentucky Nutrition Education Program is uniquely situated to address this issue by implementing targeted nutrition education efforts statewide to teen audiences. This year, the Kentucky Nutrition Education Program identified a curriculum, Fuel for Life to adopt for teens. Fuel for Life is a 6-to 8-week curriculum that provides high school students with essential life skills. The curriculum focuses on nutrition, safe food handling and preparation, food resource management, and physical activity. The goal is to empower students with the knowledge and skills to make healthy choices and lead a balanced lifestyle both now and as they enter adulthood. Kentucky Nutrition Education Program Assistants were trained to implement the curriculum during 2025. Follow up evaluation from the training indicate that assistants strongly or very strongly agreed with the following:

1. 95% gained knowledge and skills about the topics in the curriculum.
2. 90% felt the content was relevant to their program needs.

One assistant said, “Excited to implement this in the community! We have been needing this!” The curriculum is now being implemented statewide and future data will highlight participant data outcomes.