Youth Improve Dairy Knowledge

An essential goal of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Program is to equip youth of all ages with nutritional knowledge. Doing so ensures that they grow to make healthy decisions later on as adults. This is a particularly important task for Floyd County. According to the Floyd County Fitness and Nutrition Coalition, a child born today in this county can expect to live seven years less than a child born in Fayette County. While only 120 miles apart, the counties greatly differ in ways that impact our health. Poor nutrition is one factor that directly contributes to this issue.

This summer, the Floyd County Cooperative Extension Office Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Program partnered with a number of different entities across the county to deliver nutrition education to youth. Kids from May Valley Elementary, Highland Heights Housing Authority, Bright Beginnings Daycare, and Dinosaur Play Land Daycare attended Nutrition Day Camps as well as various nutrition classes.  The youth that participated in these classes ranged in grades from pre-school to middle school.

Initially it was clear that the 32 kindergarten, first, and second grade youth did not demonstrate clear knowledge of certain food groups. Dairy was among the least clear. Other than milk, most of the k-2 youth could not indicate any other dairy product, or explain why it is important to our diets. Much of the “Professor Popcorn” curriculum was chosen to use with the kids because it conveys the concepts of nutrition, food safety and physical activity in a way that is fun and appealing for youth. After going over dairy using Professor Popcorn, the youth seemed to grasp the concept of this food group much better than before. Post test scores reflected this, with 94% (30 of the 32) of the k-2 youth improving their responses to the dairy food group. To some this may seem like a modest detail, but even this success within the youth goes on to further overall health consciousness throughout Floyd County.