Healthy Lifestyles, Prevention and Food Safety
This program area covers the Expanded Food Nutrition and Education and Family Well-being, Families First: Nutrition Education and Wellness, Junior League of Kids in the Kitchen, and parenting for families at risk. The objective is to teach participants to use what they learn to positively change behavior by making healthy lifestyle and food choices.
- The Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
This program provides educational opportunities and resources to improve the health and well-being of low-income families with young children and youth in rural areas of Alabama, especially in the black belt counties. It addresses health disparities affecting minority and low-income populations such as poor nutrition, overweight, obesity and limited physical activity. The adult program provides new skills in food production, preparation, storage, safety, and sanitation, as well as how to manage food budgets and related resources from local food assistance agencies and organizations better.
Goals and Objectives:
The goal of the program is to assist limited-resource families in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior change necessary for nutritionally-sound family diets which will contribute to their personal development and improved well-being. The specific objectives are:
- To help adult audiences improve their Dietary Intake (DI) by closely following the MyPyramid recommendations to include a 1 percent increase of fruit and vegetable servings
- To improve their Nutrition Practices (NP) by making healthier choices and reading food labels
- To promote Food Resource Management (FRM) practices such as stretching food dollars in planning meals and shopping with a grocery list
- To improve Food Safety (FS) practices in food handling by storing and thawing food properly
- To increase their physical activity (PA) rates by at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day
Eunice Bonsi, PhD, Program Leader /Specialist
Cooperative Extension Program
203 Vocational Building