Off to Change Their World

Muhlenberg County Job Corp

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that 39.8% of American adults are obese, the number of obese young adults aged 20-32 are growing at the alarming rate of 35.7%.  Young adults come to the Muhlenberg County Job Corp from various backgrounds and various parts of the country to learn a trade and make themselves more employable when they leave on the Job Corp.  The Muhlenberg County SNAP-Ed Assistant partners with the Muhlenberg County Job Corp to provide Nutrition Education to the clients who are close to completing their program and going back into the world.  The goal is to teach these young adults the skills necessary to maintain good health through healthy eating, food safety, and increasing their physical activity levels.

13 young adults at the Job Corp completed the Healthy Choices for Every Body program.  Throughout the program clients learned to build a healthier plate and recognize healthy food with My Plate.  92% of the group showed an increase in eating fruits more often each day.  In the hands on lessons the clients learned to read recipes and prepare easy and affordable meals.  69% of the group had an increase in planning meals ahead of time.  The importance of Food Safety was taught to the group.  They learned about proper storage of foods to reduce the risk of food borne illnesses and to waste less food.  Over all in all four food safety categories the group had a 59.75% increase in Food Safety behaviors.   Lastly, tips were given to increase their physical activity, as they are young adults and lifelong habits are being formed now.  The group made their own weekly challenges and sat and achieved their weekly goals.  Their physical activity improved by 69% increased their exercise for at least 30 minutes per day and 77% made small changes to be active more often. 

One of the clients stated, “Preparing the meals in class was her favorite part and it allowed her to try different things, and gave her several new resources for when she graduates from Job Corp.”

Upon completion of the program all the clients were given a bag of kitchen tools; incentives to set up their own kitchens and a certificate of completion.