11/08/2018

PATARA STRUNK

EXPANDED FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAM ASSISTANT

PERRY COUNTY KY

The Perry County Cooperative Extension Service’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) assistant partnered with the Perry County school system to bring the Farm 2 School program to every eighth-grade student in Perry County.

“Kentucky has the fifth highest rate of obesity in the nation” as stated by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.   Obesity is caused by poor diet and inactivity and is shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems for children as they grow older.

The Farm 2 School curriculum was presented to this class of eighth grade students, the EFNEP assistant taught My Plate, food safety and physical activity to these students for a total of six sessions.   Healthy eating and the importance of physical activity was emphasized to this group of adolescents.

Both pre and post surveys were conducted which showed a 95% improvement on diet quality and a 58% percent improvement on physical activity.   Students stated they better understood the impact of physical activity to their health both now and in the future.