The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture offer dietary guidelines for healthy eating. They suggest that half of each plate be made up of fruits and vegetables. According to a study in 2016, only about one fourth of adults in Northern Kentucky were eating the proper amount of fruits and vegetables. If adults are not eating properly, it is safe to assume that their children are not either. 

A first grade teacher from White’s Tower Elementary contacted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service to ask about conducting a healthy eating program for her class. The NEP Assistant went to the first grade classroom once a week for more than 12 weeks where she introduced the Literacy, Eating, and Activity for Primary (LEAP) program to the class. The NEP Assistant read a children’s book on eating healthy, getting physical activity, or knowing when to wash your hands. After reading the book, the Assistant would do an activity with the students and give them a healthy snack. The Assistant encouraged the students to try at least two bites of every food she brought. After the NEP Assistant had come to the classroom for 3 sessions, the first grade teacher gave the students a writing prompt: “I should eat vegetables because….” Because of the LEAP program, the children wrote the need for eating more vegetables because “they were healthy, good for you, and would make you grow strong and healthy.”

At the end of the program, according to a Wed-based Nutrition Education Evaluation and Reporting System gathered, one-third of the students improved in their ability to identify vegetables, and over half of the students (56%) recognized when they should wash their hands. At the end of the program, the teacher gave the students another writing assignment: 3 things I learned from the LEAP program. The most common things the students wrote were that they should eat fruits and vegetables every day, and they should wash their hands after playing with a pet, playing outside or going to the bathroom. The students all became members of “The Two Bite Club” because they were willing to try foods the NEP Assistant brought for them. Many of the students found new fruits and vegetables that they liked and asked their parents to buy for them. As a result of the LEAP program, the students are teaching their parents to eat more fruits and vegetables.