WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Fayette County Public Health is sending home visitors into young families’ kitchens to cook simple, healthy recipes together, an effort the agency says helps build eating habits that last into adulthood and gets children ready for kindergarten.
The program, called Healthy at Home, pairs the health department’s Help Me Grow home visitors with families to prepare basic recipes in their own kitchens, according to a Fayette County Public Health Facebook post. The agency said letting children help in the kitchen gives them a reason to try new foods while they practice skills that carry over into the classroom, such as following directions, counting, taking turns and working with others.
Healthy at Home is a partnership between Fayette County Help Me Grow and the Ohio State University Extension office in Fayette County, the health department said. The Extension office, based in Washington Court House, runs its own nutrition and family programming, including cooking and food-safety classes and the federally funded SNAP-Ed initiative, which promotes healthy eating among children and families on limited incomes.
Help Me Grow is the county health department’s voluntary home-visiting program for expectant parents and families with young children. Home visitors work with families on four goals: healthier pregnancies, stronger parenting skills, better connections to community resources, and improved child health and development, according to Fayette County Public Health. The department can be reached at 740-335-5111 for families interested in enrolling.
Fayette County Public Health said the Healthy at Home program is supported by a grant from the Public Health Fund of Ohio.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Fayette County Public Health.
