Nutrition at the Senior Citizens Center in Rowan County

Kentucky is the eighth state in the highest obesity rate, most Kentuckians have a high risk of chronic illnesses such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, so to help gradually lower the rate I decided to start the Healthy Choices curriculum at the Rowan County Senior Citizens Center. Because bettering someone’s nutrition has shown to reduce chronic diseases and promote better overall health. 

In the Healthy Choices curriculum it promotes lessons such as knowing your body’s limits, making healthier choices, reading labels, meal planning, budgeting, food safety, and breakfast made easy. These classes help the Senior Citizens by providing necessary nutrition and physical activity related material to help better themselves. Each class, clients would learn an important nutrition lesson that would help benefit them health-wise and at the end of each class they would try a healthy recipe that helps show that healthy food can-not only be good but nutritious as well. When the senior citizens tried the healthy recipe, they were hesitant at first, because they thought healthy food had to be boring, bland, and tasteless. When one of my pickiest eater tried the recipe he complimented how wonder the taste was and even said “I can’t believe this is supposed to be good for me, I never eat whole grain food because I thought they tasted so bad, but this is wonderful!”  

According to Webneers, Clients from Rowan County Senior Citizens Center improved in multiple categories. Those categories include: diet quality, physical activity, eat fruit more often each day, and strengthen muscles more days a week. Overall clients improved 43% in the Healthy Choices Categories. Which is one step closer to prevent obesity and other related chronic illness that go with it.