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March 08, 2007
North Dakota 4-H Leverages Cargill Healthy Living Grant for National Honor
The prestigious National 4-H Headquarters at USDA “Program of Distinction” honor has been given to the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension Service for its 4-H “On the Move to Better Health” Healthy Living Program that focused on helping fifth grade children to develop healthy eating habits and be physically active. Support from a 2006 grant from Cargill/National 4-H Council was leveraged to support the program and its umbrella “Eat Smart. Play Hard. Together” to produce an extensive educational campaign that included targeted public service announcements, radio promotion, billboard and media releases reaching nearly 200,000 people.
The NDSU Extension Service and Bison Athletics sports program of NDSU collaborated to launch a statewide educational campaign featuring North Dakota elementary-age children and Bison athletes from across the state. The overall goal of the “Eat Smart. Play Hard. Together.” project was to increase awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle, particularly food choices, regular physical activity and family meals, in maintaining good health among North Dakotayouth and their families. Bison athletes were role models for the targeted 5-12 year-old audience, especially for the “Eat Lunch with the Bison” radio promotion where children could nominate their schools for a visit by Bison athletes.
Forty-five thousand youth were reached with the information. A “Healthy North Dakota 4-H Club” program defined healthy lifestyle goals for clubs with 426 youth and 21 clubs engaged. “Eat Smart. Play Hard.” poster and essay contests were launched with Cargill employees serving as judges. The entries received were of such high quality that the contests were repeated in 2007, drawing 180 entries.
For more information about this program, click here or contact Julie Garden-Robinson, NDSU Food & Nutrition Specialist at Julie.Garden-Robinson@ndsu.edu.
To learn more about National 4-H Council’s grant programs, including the Cargill Healthy Living Grant, visit FourHCouncil.edu.
Posted in category Grants at 03:56 PM