Agricultural News
OSU Extension, Dairy Max Team Up for Nutrition Program Success in Kingfisher County
Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:21:55 CDT
Val Evans with the Kingfisher County OSU Extension office says a nutrition and exercise program they've been promoting in partnership with Dairy Max and the county's public and private schools is paying off. She recently spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays about the Extension service's role in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.
"We have the same mission as Fuel Up to Play 60. We want to teach young people to make healthy food choices and exercise 60 minutes every day. And that's actually the number one programming area that our program advisory council identified as a need in Kingfisher County."
Evans said the OSU Extension program has had a strong relationship with the public and schools in the county and has been doing enrichment activities for many years. The Fuel Up to Play 60 program is an outgrowth of those efforts. She said a recent grant has bolstered her ability to expand the healthy choices message county-wide.
"We received a substantial amount of funding, over $16,000, in Kingfisher County alone to support Fuel Up to Play 60 programming."
She said the funding has been invested in the kids.
"It's all about the kids. We have used the funding for some taste testing activities. We've used the funding for some incentives to encourage the young people to exercise and eat healthy. In fact, there's a program called the Chisholm Trail Challenge that was actually developed by Roberta Seaton, a school nurse who works for the Kingfisher County Health Department. It's a healthy eating, physical activity program that's based on the Chisholm Trail.
"You know Oklahoma's history-we have always learned about the Chisholm Trail and the cattle drive through the state of Oklahoma. And there are various stops. And if they eat three servings of dairy every day, if they make half their grains whole, if the students eat more fruits and vegetables, if they drink their water, and if they exercise 60 minutes a day, at each stop along the Chisholm Trail they receive some sort of incentive."
The incentives include such things as museum tickets and passes to the local swimming pool-fun activities for children. Evans said that children who make the trip all the way to the state line receive tickets to Frontier City or Whitewater Bay.
As an added incentive, Evans said, they decided to purchase athletic shoes for students who had met that standard.
"So, we used Fuel Up to Play 60 funds, and about half the kids achieved that goal. We were able to get their shoe sizes and go ahead and order some pretty cool, popular brands of athletic shoes for them."
"I'm tickled about it. I couldn't be more positive about it. I couldn't be more proud of our young people. I think what's so neat is we are recognizing that making healthier food choices and exercising 60 minutes a day helps kids perform better academically and that's research based. That's what Extension is about is to share research-based information."
Val Evans is Ron's guest on "In the Field" Saturday morning about 6:40 on News 9. You can hear their full conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
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