Iowa State University Extension

Problem:
Children and adults are overweight, in-active, do not eat enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and many do not cook. We know this through national and state-wide data, EFNEP food recalls and behavior checklists, local WIC data, and personal anecdotes in working with families. Woodbury County was awarded a Harkin Wellness Grant, Fall 2005, to work on these issues. The grant had several facets and several community agencies were involved. ISU Extension in Woodbury County was responsible for the youth education component for primarily middle school aged youth.

Response:
Extension staff, working with community partners and the local school district, decided to use the Kids A Cookin curriculum through Kansas State University . The program was offered in all of the middle schools in Woodbury County during the grant period. (The grant ended May 2007). During the summer of 2006, the program was also offered through summer programming for youth. Upper elementary and middle school youth participated in the program during the summer. Most of the youth received a minimum of 6 hours of time in the program.

During the school year, the middle school youth participated in Kids a Cookin as an after-school program, using the Family and Consumer Science classroom for the cooking classes. The program taught youth cooking skills and g av e them the opportunity to try new foods and practice what they had learned. Plus, they had fun and while eat ing nutritious tasty food they had prepared . They also participated in physical activity and learned about nutrition and food safety.

During a 14-month (March 2006 – May 2007) , 1290 youth were reached by two Kids A Cookin Extension educators. The program was offered at 25 different sites; several sites hosted the program multiple times. In addition, Kids A Cookin staff were a major part of a Go the Distance Day at one of the schools, which was a result of the programming done there during the year. 293 youth participated in the Go the Distance Day.

Impact:
Pre and Post evaluations were completed at s elected middle school sites during the after school Kids A Cookin Program. 366 pre and post tests showed the following results:

• Frequency of hand washing before touching or eating food: Overall 12.8% improvement reported by youth -15% improvement in knowledge of how to wash your hands -There was a 22.9% increase in the number of participants who understood that they should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day
• There was a significant change in the understanding of the amount of time middle school children should spend in screen time. At pretest only 60% understood that they should be watching TV or being in front of a screen for 0 – 2 hours per day. By the end of the sessions, 76.5% knew that screen time should be limited. This was a 15.8% improvement in knowledge.
  

During the program, many youth reported making the recipes at home. Parents and even grandparents reported using the recipes for healthy family (and even Holiday ) meals. A fter the grant ended, one Kids A Cookin educators was employed for ISU Extension in Woodbury County into a 4-H youth position . This person continues to teach Kids a Cookin in some of the middle schools. The Sioux City School District , which has three large middle schools, continued funding for another year of offering Kids A Cookin as an afterschool offering in those three schools.

Other ISU Extension Staff Involved:
Sherry McGill, Woodbury County Extension Education Director
712-276-2157
mcgills@iastate.edu

Kellyn Huck, Woodbury County Extension Youth Worker,
712-276-2157
khuck@extension.iastate.edu

Contact:
Renee Sweers
Woodbury County Extension
4301 Sergeant Rd #213
Sioux City, IA 51106
rsweers@iastate.edu