Program Overview

What is the West Virginia Family Nutrition Program (FNP)?

FNP offers many nutrition and physical activity programs to help limited-resource families, youth, and adults improve their health. FNP targets the risk factors associated with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases. Similar programs report that every $1 spent on nutrition and health education leads to savings in health-care costs of between $3.63 and $10.64 over time.

Goal and Objectives

FNP increases the knowledge and practice of healthy lifestyle behaviors among families, youth, and adults by:

• Teaching nutrition education using the USDA's MyPyramid and Dietary Guidelines
• Demonstrating recipes and preparing well-balanced meals
• Teaching proper food storage, preparation, and handling techniques
• Ensuring adequate access and availability of local community resources
• Helping participants to stretch their food dollars, plan menus, and read food labels
• Encouraging participants to learn new behaviors and devote more time to being more physically active

Target Audience

FNP reaches limited-resource families living at or below 185% of the federal poverty line and youth attending schools with more than 50% of students receiving free and reduced-price lunches. This audience is often referred to as the "working poor." FNP schedules programs at times and locations preferred by participants.

Program Delivery

In fiscal year 2007, 50 WVU Extension Nutrition Outreach Instructors, 44 WVU Extension agents (NOIs), and over 900 volunteers contributed their time and expertise to operate the program in 42 counties. Nutrition Outreach Instructors are paraprofessionals trained to teach a series of interactive lessons over a period of six weeks to six months.

Outcomes/Impacts-

Family Programs

• 30 instructors made 34,115 direct contacts
• 30 instructors made 1,403,383 indirect contacts
• 30 instructors taught 2374 lessons
• 97% made a positive change in diet behaviors
• Graduates saved an average of $6 monthly in food purchases
• Participants ate 1.2 more servings of fruit and vegetables daily
• 93% improved nutrition practices
• 69% improved food safety practices
• 87% improved resource-management practices
• 72% improved label reading practices

Youth Programs

• 24 instructors made 96,599 direct contacts
• 24 instructors made 1,007,869
• 24 instructors taught 3764 lessons
• 13,518 Youth participated in school-based and summer lessons
• 9% of youth reported eating a variety of foods
• 12% of youth reported an increase in their knowledge of the essentials of human nutrition
• 13% of youth improved practices in food preparation and safety
• 23% of youth increased their ability to select low-cost, nutritious foods
• 3532 campers learned about nutrition in 85 summer camps
• 751.5 hours of nutrition education were delivered
• 113 partnerships were formed to offer camping opportunities
• 529 volunteers provided assistance at camps for a total of 4143 donated hours
• $107, 410 were provided in support donations for summer programs

Funding/Stakeholders

The West Virginia Family Nutrition Program is funded by county, state, and federal resources:

* FSNE is part of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
** EFNEP is part of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Contact Us

To learn more about the Family Nutrition Program, please contact Jeff Olson, FNP Director.