(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – A $91,000 federal grant will help Kentucky children develop better eating and physical activity habits.
The Team Nutrition grant was awarded to the Kentucky Department of Education's Division of Nutrition and Health Services. Team Nutrition is one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) efforts to provide schools with nutrition education materials for children and parents, as well as technical assistance materials for school food service providers and communities to support healthy eating and physical activity. Team Nutrition activities support two pillars of the President's Healthier US Initiative that was launched in 2002 to help Americans live longer and healthier lives.
Through the grant, the Kentucky Department of Education, in partnership with Save the Children, will provide training and technical assistance to six Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) centers for implementation of the Race for Activity with Veggies and Fruits for Everyone (RAVE) project.
The six child care centers chosen for the project are:
- Hands and Feet Learning Center, Berea
- Kiddie College, Dry Ridge
- Henderson Settlement Inc., Frakes
- Tammy Embry's Playschool, Leitchfield
- Manchester Center, Lexington
- Doris Mae's Child Care, Louisville
Criteria used for selecting the child care centers included geographical location, for-profit or non-profit status, performance history on the CACFP and average daily attendance numbers.
RAVE will include nutrition education, the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) curriculum and an emphasis on literacy. These programs provide children with a structured, interactive and fun approach to increasing activity levels and healthy snacks.
During the project, the Department of Education's Division of Nutrition and Health Services and Save the Children will be tracking the centers' snack menus for an increase in fruits and vegetables and tracking activity times for an increase in physical activity behavior.
The project will run through September 30, 2008. This is believed to be the first-ever study of this kind implemented in child care centers and could be a national model in the future.
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