Lincoln County

SNAP-Ed Assistant, Kayla Gibson

Success Story #3 “Good Health for Every Body”- 2018

A new class began at the Lincoln County Extension Office using the "Healthy Choices for Every Body" curriculum. 7 ladies graduated from the 7 week class, and loved the learning environment so much that they asked to continue. Although they were graduated from this class, they were invited back to a program starting later in the fall that will be done in collaboration with the FCS Agent, Ms. Rita Stewart. In this new class that will bring in new members, as well as the ladies from the first class, additional lessons from the Healthy Choices curriculum will be used, as the group will have the opportunity to learn more about fall produce and ways they can utilize them more in their cooking. 

Within the 7 week program, the participants showed improvement in several areas. There was a 57% improvement in days in which participants exercised for at least 30 minutes. There was also a 57% improvement in the days in which participants did muscle strengthening exercise. This was a great accomplishment since many of the women were elderly. The youngest was 45, but the rest were in their 50s, 60s and 70s. The improvement shown in physical activity was encouraging, since bone and muscle health was discussed several times throughout the class as well as the importance of maintaining a strong body as one ages. Other positive changes included the fact that 71% were shown to be thawing their food less on the counter, and 86% increased their use of meat thermometers. These improvements in food safety showed great accomplishments, since many of the women were established homemakers and have substantial experience cooking. This showed that even though they had a lot of life experience and knowledge, they were still willing to learn new things and make improvements in the areas that needed it.