According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18.5% (or 13.7 million) of children and adolescents are obese. To address this problem, the Hickman County Cooperative Extension Service implemented 4th-grade life skills camp: a cooking, manners, and nutrition program for fourth graders. 54 students took a day-long field trip to a local church gym where they learned about manners, food safety, kitchen safety, knife skills, measurement conversion, reading recipes, and other aspects of food preparation before getting to cook for themselves. Each participant got to practice their newfound skills while preparing six different, healthy recipes. After cooking, students got to practice table manners as they sat down to eat the meal that they had prepared together.

In order to have an effective impact this program required office-wide collaboration. All agents and program assistants joined together to make this program success with representation from the areas of Family and Consumer Sciences, Agriculture, 4-H Youth Development,  and the Nutrition Education Program. The Family Resource Center Director and Extension Homemakers volunteered as well. Upon completion of the Life Skill Camp program, 92% of youth participants reported that they plan to eat more fruits, 84% plan to eat more vegetables, 70% plan to try new foods, and 92% plan to help prepare food at home. Moreover, several students reported that they did indeed prepare one or more of the featured recipes for their family. The US National Library of Medicine has released several statements that show a link between family meals and an increase in typically under-consumed nutrients and ultimately a positive association between family meals and healthy weight among adolescents. This statistic illustrates that not only did life skill camp impact the students in attendance but also families across HickmanCounty.