Research suggests participating in youth hands-on cooking programs, like those offered by Extension and 4-H, can improve nutrition behaviors and reduce the risk for obesity. We surveyed Georgia Extension professionals (n = 127) to explore factors (e.g., employee characteristics, resources, county demographics) related to offering youth hands-on…

Extension educators across the United States are being asked to expand their direct education efforts to include policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. However, professional development opportunities and tools are needed to familiarize Extension professionals with PSE change approaches, build their capacity to implement PSE change, and…

Early care and education settings are essential partners in the battle against childhood obesity. We describe an Extension-facilitated early childhood obesity prevention intervention conducted in 25 rural early care and education settings. A total of 148 policy, systems, or environmental changes were achieved, reaching approximately 450 young…

Healthy lifestyles education (HLE) is defined as nutrition and physical activity education aimed at controlling or preventing serious health issues. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine knowledge and behaviors of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) and 4-H agents concerning HLE. Eighty-five and 86% of FACS and 4-H…

The prevalence of overweight children and adults has been increasing steadily over the past three decades. Behaviors related to diet and nutrition are often established in early childhood. Toddlers most often develop healthy eating habits through parent modeling. Due to the steady increase in obesity in children, there is a clear need for…

The number of obese children has nearly tripled in the past 30 years. Research has identified a clear connection between parental income, education, ethnicity, and the risk for obesity. Recent research demonstrates that parenting style may also impact the ability to establish healthy eating environments. This article reviews a program, currently…

Just Be It! Healthy and Fit reduces the risk factors for childhood obesity for fifth graders using hands-on field trips, in-class lessons, and parent outreach efforts. Pre-test and post-test scores from the year-long classroom instruction showed a statistically significant increase in fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and nutrition…