SUCCESS STORY – Eating more fruits and vegetables

OUTCOME – Initial Outcome

NUTRITION ASSISTANT – Toni Williams, Hardin County

Statistics show that on an average 24.3% or about 1 in 5 women experience domestic violence by their intimate partner. The Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence has provided assistance to 4,803 women, men, and children, with emergency shelter and transitional housing. So, when the opportunity arose to go have classes at the Springhaven Shelter for abused woman and children, I was excited to work with the ladies. It can be overwhelming coming from a two household income, to where there is just one income or sometimes no income at all, in addition to the emotional hardship they’re enduring.

Starting this class you can tell the women were a little cautious, but they participated and talked about what they like to eat and what they do not like to eat, and what they would like to learn from these classes. One of the participants (we will call her Trish), stated that all she likes to eat is ramen noodles and she eats them three times a day and sometimes more. During the reading label part of the lessons. I explained to her that those noodles are processed and they have no nutritional value to them. Eating one pack a day is ok, but not three or more in a day’s time. We discussed the sodium intake is more than the body needs for a day and that all that sodium has a lot of negative health impacts. Upon return to our next class, Trish, stated that she had “stopped eating noodles for 3 days and started eating vegetables and her body feels better.” I told her all it takes is one step towards wanting to make a change for our health.  This was an immediate outcome.