Russell County

Margie Hernandez, SNAP-Ed Assistant

Healthy Kids

In Russell County, 17.5% of children between the ages of 2-4 were identified as obese through the WIC Program (2010). (Building Strong Families for Kentucky 2017). With obesity on the rise, educators in Russell County sought out ways to help make the children in their classrooms healthier and more physically active. The Russell County Cooperative Extension Service SNAP-Ed program assistant collaborated with the Russell County Elementary School to offer the Discover MyPlate curriculum to kindergarteners during the 2015-2016 school year.  The Nutrition Education Program assistant conducted monthly lessons, for six months, with seven kindergarten groups.  The lessons focused on MyPlate, learning about the five food groups, tasting different fruits and vegetables, learning how fruits and vegetables are grown, and the importance of being physically active. During the lessons, the students would engage in physical activities and food tasting that focused on fruits and vegetables.

142 kindergarteners completed all six lessons. A pre and post evaluation was conducted, and as a result of the program, 22% of the participants improved in their responses to circle kids being active, 36% improved in circling healthy snacks, 35% improved in circling vegetables, 42% improved in circling dairy foods, 34% improved in circling fruits, and 49% improved in circling kids who should wash their hands before eating. Teachers reported that as a result of the Discover MyPlate program, 100% of the students indicated they could name foods that grow in a garden and would participate in physical activity at home.