Author: Heather Shaw
Planning Unit: CES District 6 Office
Major Program: Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Kentucky has one of the highest prevalence for pediatric obesity in the nation. Approximately 38% of Kentucky children ages 10-17 years are considered overweight or obese according to BMI-for-age standards. The local high school teacher contacted the Cooperative Extension office SNAP-Education Assistant for help to get youth on the right track. The assistant and teacher planned to introduce all Freshmen youth to the USDA Supertracker website and to teach the kids how to utilize that tool. The assistant spent 2 days teaching youth about Supertracker on laptops provided from the school's computer lab. The teacher was pleased with the tool and encouraged the kids to track what they were eating and physical activity they were taking part in for the duration of his class. This is the 3rd year in a row that the assistant and teacher have partnered to teach youth how to use this and now it is also available as an app. Despite initial protests from the kids, the teacher reported that the chore aspect of tracking their daily food soon diminished. The teacher allowed the kids time in the class to track their food and activity each day, in hopes of forming a healthy habit that would carry on past one semester of high school. Many kids were shocked to see how little nutritious food they were consuming. Many were surprised to see that they never or almost never ate from the vegetable food group. The teacher told the assistant that this project was an "eye opener" for most kids. Even though they had been taught about Myplate for years, it had never really "hit home" like it did when they examined their own habits. Kids were more likely to choose foods that were healthier because they knew they would have to track that food later in class. Several youth also added the app to their phone because they became aware of the benefit of keeping track of their daily food and activity and wanted to work towards improving their weight and/or overall health.
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