Becoming Wise in Prime Years

Angela Baldauff

Approximately 20,000 adults in Kenton County are age 65 and over.  St Elizabeth Healthcare’s Primewise Coordinator contacted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education Program Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service to teach a nutrition series for the members of Primewise.  Primewise is a free program of St. Elizabeth Healthcare dedicated to linking adults 50+ to health and wellness.

The SNAP-Ed Assistant taught the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum series once a week at the Kenton County Public Library. Twenty-three Primewise members attended one or more sessions with eleven people completing the seven-lesson series.  After the Know the Limits class where participants looked at test tubes showing how much sodium, fat, or sugar were in common foods, one participant jokingly said, “You are taking all the fun out of eating.   But by learning to read labels, I can at least know what I’m eating.”  The participants later said they learned a lot of information in the series, and they had fun.  By the end of the series, fifty-two percent improved in their food safety practices, including 82% now thawing meat at room temperature less often.  Forty-two percent improved in their resource management, of which 55% plan meals more frequently and 50% check their cupboards more frequently before going shopping.  Along with these big changes, individuals in the class made small changes throughout the class.  One seventy-year old woman now felt confident enough to prepare zucchini for the first time after being introduced to a new way to prepare it in class.  One participant joined a gym while taking the class and lost her first one and a half pounds.  Another participant said, “I am eating slower.  I now put my fork down between bites, and I am enjoying my food more.”  

It doesn’t matter if you are 50 or 90, you can always make small changes to be healthier.   Plans are being made to offer the series to different Primewise members every year.