FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ann Bailey Berry, WVU Extension Communications
Phone: (304) 293-4221, ext. 3416; e-mail: Ann.Berry@mail.wvu.edu
To be archived after March 30, 2007
Local West Virginia University Extension Service faculty and staff are among those honored by WVU for their contribution to an innovative 4-H health program engaging Kanawha County 4-H club members and more than 20,000 youths throughout West Virginia.
Cathy Cleland and Jeff Olson are part of the multicounty team that developed, tested and implemented the 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Initiative, which won the 2006 WVU Extension Service New Program Excellence Award.
They were recognized during an awards ceremony held recently at WVU Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp, Weston.
Working out of the WVU-ES Family Nutrition Program’s state office in Charleston, Cleland is a nutrition program coordinator, and Olson—an Extension specialist and clinical instructor—is the Family Nutrition Program’s director.
Their multicounty, interdisciplinary team strengthened the “Health H” among the four Hs (representing Head, Heart, Hands and Health) by creating curricula that guide and involve members throughout the year.
After testing their work in selected counties, the team implemented the multidimensional program in 2005. Each club in West Virginia had the opportunity to select one of its members to become its trained health officer. That 4-H’er now leads heath activities at each meeting of his or her 4-H club.
In addition, each club member is following activities in a personal planner. Each month, different games and puzzles challenge 4-H’ers to discover and try healthy food and fitness choices.
For 2006-2007, the team added a new dimension: activities for families. 4-H members’ families can now become an active part of their youths’ healthy learning experiences.
The health topics change each year. In 2005-2006, 4-H’ers explored a variety of experiences that could lead to healthier lives. This fall—the beginning of the 2007 health year—4-H members have begun exploring how their eating habits, hygiene and lifestyle choices can affect their well-being and health.
Elaine Bowen, the WVU Extension health promotion specialist leading the 4-H Healthy Lifestyles Initiative, said that 4-H’s sustained focus on improving daily nutrition, exercise and safety habits is in response to young people’s increasing health problems, including obesity and diabetes.
The young program is beginning to receive attention beyond West Virginia. In 2005, it received a Healthy Lifestyle Education Award at the eastern regional meeting of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
The Extension team includes educators and health professionals from other agencies. With the focus on dental health, the team created a partnership with the WVU School of Dentistry and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Oral Health Program.
Cleland and Olson are among community-based WVU Extension faculty and staff who work on local issues with families, businesses and organizations through offices in each of the state’s 55 counties.
WVU-ES’s four major program areas are 4-H Youth Development; Families and Health; Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Community, Economic and Workforce Development.
Information about WVU-ES programs is available on the Web (www.ext.wvu.edu).
The WVU-ES Family Nutrition Program is headquartered in Cox Hall at 3110 MacCorkle Avenue SE in Charleston. The local 4-H Youth Development Program has its headquarters in the Kanawha County WVU Extension office at 15 Manfred Holland Way in Dunbar.
—WVU-ES—
fsm 11/06
Last modified
December 13, 2006
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