UK receives grant to fight obesity
October 16, 2014
By Kaylee Hobbs
UK received a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to work toward lower high obesity rates in six counties throughout Kentucky.
The six counties that are to be affected are Elliot, Clinton, Lewis, Martin, Logan and Letcher counties, where more than 40 percent of the population are considered obese — having a body mass index higher than 35.
According to Ann Vail, Director of the UK School of Human Environmental Sciences, this grant will go toward creating advisory committees in these counties that will assess the specific needs of their respective county. This grant will also go toward proper training for these committees.
Committees will work toward finding the needs of each community and delivering specific intervention plans that will better the community and create a healthier environment.
“Obesity is not a one-solution type problem, and there is not a one size fits all solution,” Vail said. “Therefore these interventions will be tailored to each community and created by the community members who are trained and know their community best.”
UK students could potentially have the opportunity to work with these counties in implementing plans within their community. In the past, UK students in food science classes have worked toward developing healthier, low fat and low sugar recipe alternatives that could be beneficial to intervention plans in these counties, Vail said.
Vail said other ways that students might be able to participate would be through developing curriculum to educate residents in these communities and also helping to assess the needs of communities.
