Live Healthy Kids Program, Years 2016-2017, 2017-2018: COMCORPS An AmeriCorps Program

The Live Healthy Kids Program (LHK) is a 22-week initiative created by COMCorps partner site Live Healthy Appalachia (LHA). It is designed to teach second graders about healthy food and expose them to a variety of foods through physical, practical, and learning experiences. The program uses a curriculum designed by LHA that offers interactive lessons on nutrition, cooking, and physical activity.

Study Goals:

The evaluation report covered a two-year evaluation period: 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The objective of the report was to:

• Compare the performance of LHK between the two evaluation periods, highlighting the extent the program achieved the desired health outcomes.
• Assess the program’s impact in Athens and Washington counties, Ohio.

Research Questions:

Both the students and their parents/guardians received pre- and post-tests. The questions focused on gathering information on the students’ knowledge and attitude towards fruits and vegetables and centered around six points of improvements for students:

• Knowledge of healthy foods
• Preference level for healthy food
• Willingness/readiness to try new food
• Skills to offer to prepare healthy meals
• Inclination to perform healthy behavior

The questionnaires also addressed LHK impacts on home food habits.

Findings:

The evaluation report found the following:

• The students demonstrated significant improvement in knowledge of healthy foods, with an average increase of 30%.
• There was a substantial change in the students’ preference for healthy food and an improvement in their willingness to try new foods.
• LHK has impacted the culture of food at home, and this effect is shown by the parents’ approval rate for the continuation of the program.

For more information, download the full report.