Gallatin County is a small rural Kentucky county with a population of approximately 8,500.  CountyHealthRankings.org data, rank Gallatin, 85th of 120 counties in Kentucky in health behaviors; 36% of adult residents are obese, and 32% report no physical activity.  

The Gallatin County Cooperative Extension Service hosted a Health Challenge to Gallatin County School employees. It has been well documented that when people monitor their behavior and measure how they’re doing, they are often inspired to do better and achieve positive results. 

The Health challenge ran August 20 to October 1, 2019.  Participants were challenged to be more physically active, walk 10,000 steps each day, and eat healthier.  Participants received weekly emails with healthy tidbits and found incentive items in their school mail box related to their weekly challenge or topic.  Each week had a different health focus.   Topics were drink more water, food safety, sun safety, mental health, and easy healthy eating tips.  

During the food safety week, participants received refrigerator and meat thermometers in their school mailbox.  Participants, then received bonus points for sending a picture of themselves using the thermometers.  Participants were encouraged to participate in local exercise groups and received bonus points if they participated in community exercise programs such as yoga in the park. 

Forty two Gallatin County School employees participated in the health challenge.  End of the challenge evaluations comments included: It wasn't too stressful in my already busy life. It was just a good reminder to try. Small changes can make big impact.