Lewis County Residents Spring into Health

According to the CDC, Kentucky has an estimated 30%-35% population considered to be obese.  Even more frightening is that nearly 35% of adults in Kentucky engage in no leisure-time physical activity with only 15% of adults in Kentucky meeting the aerobic and muscle strengthening guidelines.   This information led the Lewis County Cooperative Extension SNAP-Ed program assistant to invite community members to participate in an eight (8) week class using the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum.  During this series of lessons, adults participated in educational sessions, engaged in simple stretching and physical activity and tested healthy recipes.  The results were exciting to see.

Of the participants attending the classes, there was a 66.6% improvement in physical activity levels with 100% reporting that they make small changes to be more active more often.   One participant reported walking up an incline daily to visit a family member rather than riding.  Diet quality also improved tremendously with 75% of participants consuming more red and orange vegetables weekly and 50% consuming more fruit each day.  In addition to the healthier food choices, there was a 50% improvement in beverage selection from the participants.  One participant stated at the beginning of the course “I eat one meal a day and drink a few Monster Hydro’s” thinking she was doing well with her diet.  By the end of the course, she had learned to three meals per day to receive a well-balanced diet and select better beverage choices.  Upon graduation, she stated “I eat three times a day now and I only drink maybe one Monster now – and it’s sugar free!”  Food resource management was also notably transformed with a 70% improvement across the board.  100% of participants reported that they planned their meals and made shopping lists at the end of the course.  

Most impressive of the group was a mother, recommended by Child Protective Services, who took great strides in improving her health and ability to make better, safer food choices for herself and her children.  In doing so and showing such tremendous improvement, she was able to receive some of her children back into her care.  Her commitment to the program was second to none and by the end of the program, she stated “I have to take care of myself and my kids – I have too much to live for so I have to be healthy, not just for me but for my kids.  I want to see my grandbabies someday.”  Truly, this was a life changing decision for her.