Obesity continues to be an issue across the United States.  According to the State of Obesity organization, Kentucky has the eighth highest obesity rate in the nation.  It was at 34% in 2018.  In addition, Kentucky has the third highest obesity rate for youth who are between the ages of 10 to 17 years old.  As a result, Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension program created a partnership with a community organization called Communicare. Communicare provides behaviorial health services to citizens in the state of Kentucky.   

            Kentucky State University’s Cooperative Extension program began working with Communicare in 2018 to provide nutrition education programs to its participants.  The program feature’s sessions on the following: How to reduce the intake of salt, How drinking certain kinds of tea can Improve your health, and the Health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.  The classes are held at least once a month every other month of the year.  The participants are provided with various handouts and activities to get them interested in making healthier food choices.  Based on several evaluations that were administered to the participants, 98% of the participants say that that they have learned some facts on how to make healthier eating choices.  The participants have requested to have more insight on how to improve their diabetes and cholesterol levels.  Future programming will feature recipes for people with diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.  Participants will also be able to create meal plans for making better choices.  One of the other fun activities that they get to do is create budgets for shopping for their groceries.  One of the biggest challenges consumers face in eating healthy is money.  We discuss ways to eat healthier on a tight budget by creating a list of items to purchase and by buying items on sale and using generic brand food items instead of brand named food items.  Generic food items are typically cheaper than the brand name food items and tend to taste about the same.  Participants have stated that they use this technique when making food purchases.  One of the participants stated that, “She loves coming to the Nutrition Education classes; it has helped her to lower her cholesterol levels.  In addition, she stated that she has started to create healthier snacks for her grandchildren.”  Instead of cooking French fries using white potatoes, she uses sweet potatoes and cauliflower fries.  According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the sweet potatoes provide more Vitamins A and vitamin C.  While cauliflower fries are high in fiber and b-vitamins. 

            In closing, the nutrition education program has been a great way to encourage adults to make healthier food choices.  Overall, the program has been a success for the citizens of Hardin County. The program will continue to be offered throughout the remainder of the year.