America's Promise Alliance Community Convention 2016 Promoting Wellness through Healthy Eating Connecting young people to healthy food contributes to them leading healthier lives and reaching their full potential. This panel discussed key strategies and programs that are helping youth understand the importance of healthy eating, build healthy school environments and choose and cook healthy foods. Participants learned how a food company not only offers programs and resources focused on healthy living and eating but also places a priority on engaging in and with the larger community. Created by Christina Day, National 4-H

1. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.1

2. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
4-H: A Proven Solution For America’s Youth
2
OUR REACH:
Nearly 6 Million
Young People
across the U.S.
OUR IMPACT:
4X’s
2X’s
2X’s
Serving every
county and
parish in the
country
OUR INFRASTRUCTURE:
OUR POSITION:
Learn-By-Doing
Less sitting. Less watching.
More doing. More leading.
OUR NETWORK:
110 Universities and
more than 3,000
Local Offices
More Likely to
Lead in
Communities
More Likely to
Lead in Healthy
Choices
More Likely to
Lead in STEM
OUR ALUMNI:
More than
25 Million Alumni

3. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
YOUTH EXPERIENCE 4-H THROUGH…
4-H AFTERSCHOOL
PROGRAMS
400,
000
PARTICIPAN
TS
4-H SCHOOL
ENRICHMENT
PROGRAMS
3.4
MILLIO
N
PARTICIPAN
TS
4-H CAMPS
475,
000
PARTICIPAN
TS
4-H CLUBS
1.7
MILLIO
N
PARTICIPAN
TS

4. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
OUR NETWORK—100+ UNIVERSITIES

5. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
HOW WE DO IT: EMPOWERING THROUGH DOING
HANDS-ON
PROJECTS
PRACTICAL
EXPERIENCE
NOT
LECTURE
MEANINGFUL
YOUTH LEADERSHIP
YOUTH AS DRIVERS
NOT AS PASSENGERS
ADULT MENTOR
PROVIDING
GUIDANCE
NOT
DIRECTIVE

6. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
4-H COMMON MEASURES:
PROGRAM RIGOR & CONSISTENCY
4-H Common Measures is an evidence-
based evaluation system that assesses
program impact.
•Helps local programs uniformly
measure youth outcomes through
standardized metrics
•Helps 4-H continually improve programs
•Available for 4-H Healthy Living, STEM,
Citizenship and College/Career
Readiness programs
Identify common set
of youth outcomes
Assess & report from
national database
Provide state 4-H
programs with user-friendly
evaluation tools

7. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
4-H YOUTH PROGRAMS
HEALTHY
LIVING
FOOD AND AG STEM
CAREER READINESS

8. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
Healthy Living Programming:
Experiences that promote healthy choices for a lifetime
Healthy Body:
nutrition, cooking
& physical activity
Healthy Mind:
bullying prevention,
stress management
More than 3.5 million youth
engaged in projects annually
Unique, teens as teachers,
empowerment approach
3.5M

9. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
Creating
Food Secure Homes
• Food Smart Families targets families
eligible for or receiving SNAP and/or
WIC benefits
• Families learn how to Budget for, Shop
for, and Prepare healthy meals on a
budget
• Programming culminates in a family
celebration where participants receive a
bag of groceries to take home and
practice their new skills

10. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
Driving Impact Together
10
Nationally
Recognized
Program 95% of participants learned why it was important
for to eat a healthy diet95%
55% strongly agree
that they “encourage
my family to eat
meals together
Over 76% learned
skills to buy food on
a budget
58% taught their
families budgeting skills

11. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.
 Recognized by the Rural Affairs Council of
the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) at the
White House
 Nominated for the Childhood Obesity Best
Practices Toolkit (CHOPT) sponsored by
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
 Nominated for an innovation award with the
Medicaid Health Plans of America
Recognition & Accolades

12. 4-H is the youth development organization of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA.12
Thank You
For more information, contact:
Christina Day, MPH
Development Director, Healthy Living
cday@4-h.org