Healthy living is an essential aspect of youth development. In Lake County, 4-H is focusing efforts on increasing healthy living opportunities and strengthening the presence of healthy lifestyle programs. Due to 4-H concentrating on overall health, Lake County concentrated its efforts on the “Roots Up – Kids” program.
“Roots Up – Kids” is a food systems series that teaches youth participants to focus on their entire wellbeing. Each session incorporates multiple wellness indicators for youth to use in everyday life. Indicators include emotional, environmental, financial, physical, social, and spiritual wellness, with each indicator affecting the overall quality of life.
Each class within the series teaches youth about overall wellness teaching the participants about food access, cooking, community service, budgeting, nutrition, physical activity, and local farms. This program was a cooperative effort by the 4-H Agent, Family and Consumer Science Agent, and the Residenti