Healthy Choices Series Better Than Expensive Weight Loss Program

Over 32% of Boone County residents are obese. To address this issue, the Boone County Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Assistant (SNAP-Ed) offered a Healthy Choices for Every Body series to 9 low income participants. The series included sessions on A Healthier You with My Plate, Know the Limits of Fats, Sugars and Salt, Eating Better on a Budget, Read the Label, and Keeping Foods Safe. Each session began with nutrition education followed by hands-on cooking of tasty, healthy recipes. Participants also received kitchen gadgets as reinforcement of the nutrition education component. For example, after the Keeping Food Safe session, participants received and learned how to properly use a meat thermometer.  

According to data from a national reporting system, as a direct result of the series: 57% began to plan meals in advance more often and 70% used the “Nutrition Facts “on food labels to make food choices more often. After making the colorful quesadilla recipe, that contains at least ½ cup of vegetables per serving, one participant reported that at her family’s request she prepared the recipe for five meals the following week. They didn’t know that vegetables could taste so good and kept wanting the quesadilla with the nutritional twist. Another participant shared that since the Label Reading session, she was now looking at the nutrition facts so she could buy and prepare healthy foods. She shared that she was considering paying a fee for an expensive nutritional program but she couldn’t really afford it. She heard about this SNAP-Ed series and decided that she would check this out before spending money that would place a strain financially on her family. She knew she needed to make changes for a healthier diet for her family, but she didn’t know how. She took the information and reinforcement’s home and made the recipes. As a result of participating in the series, she has adopted a new healthy lifestyle behavior and has lost weight without paying an expensive fee for a weight loss program.