College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Engaging Students
Search for Chronic Disease Risk Factors in
Horses Leads to Clues about Prevention
Bringing New Life to an Eroding Stream
Value-added Soybeans to Save Money and Environment
Expanding the Learning Experience
Crossing Traditional Boundaries of Science
To Find Health Solutions
Hobby-size Planes May Be Future of
Early Warning System
Improving Local Economies Through Agritourism
Incentive Payments May Reduce Phosphorus Pollution
Protecting Milk’s Flavor and Nutritional Value
Finding a Healthful and Environmentally Friendly Use For Peanut Skins
Supporting Virginia’s Expanding Wine Industry
Virginia Tech Reaches Top 10 in Agricultural Research
Entrepreneurship Education Puts Business Owners in the Express Lane
E-learning Option for Place-bound Professionals
Financial Planning – From the Farm to the Household
New Graduate Program to Train Faculty in Agricultural Education Fields
Farmers’ Markets from Diverse Communities Benefit from Sharing
Families, Food, and Fun
Developing Disease-free Mosquitoes
Mites Make Right in Honduras – or Not?
Help for the Hippos of Zambia
Families, Food, and Fun
For children to develop a healthy lifestyle, parents and school officials must set positive examples and take proactive steps to help. In response to this need, the “Families, Food, and Fun” program was created to help combat obesity among children and adolescents in local schools.
“The program provides parents and children with the opportunity to try healthy recipes – they truly ‘learn by doing,’” says Stephanie Diehl, a Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) family and consumer sciences agent from Rockingham County.
The “Families, Food, and Fun” program is a free afterschool program involving parents, grandparents, and children. In the past year and a half, the program has been conducted in four schools where more than 50 percent of the children receive free or reduced-price lunches. For five sessions, families participate in hands-on learning that teaches them the importance of good nutrition, regular physical activity, and the basics of cooking.
“Only with the collaboration of a community team involving VCE, Augusta Medical Center, Blue Ridge Area Families, Food, and Fun
Food Bank, the local schools, and community volunteers is a program of this scope possible,” says Diehl.
More than 150 parents and children have participated in the program. As a result, parents have reported reading labels more often, making healthier food choices, eating more fruits and vegetables, and having more family meals. The children who participated also achieved numerous successes. For example, among the children there was a 50 percent increase in choosing a healthy variety of foods and a 40 percent increase in physical activity awareness.
One of the children in the program announced in the principal’s office, “My mom is only cooking healthy foods now.” When asked if she liked the foods her mom was now cooking, she replied, “Yes, but I’m just glad that she is cooking for me now!”
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