Snack Science Workshops Expand

2019 marked our second summer of our successful Snack Science Children’s Health Education Workshop Series (CHEWS) with the Housing Authority City of Austin (HACA).  After 89 workshops over the course of 7-weeks at 7 locations, HealthStart saw a significant impact on the kids and families we served. This resulted in HACA nominating HealthStart for the 2020 National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) Award of Merit in Housing and Community Development.

• 147 unique children attended the 7-week, 13-workshop Snack

             Science CHEWS -- ⅓ of all children living on the sites where the workshops were held.

• One key aspect of the workshops was encouraging children to try new foods or familiar foods in novel ways. Collectively the 147 children tried 425 snacks. 84% of the kids tired one or more snacks with fully 69% indicating that they liked the new food.
• On average 70% of the children participating in the workshops were actively engaged in activities offered.

• All Snack Science CHEWS sites saw significant gains by the children who were present and took part in the pre/post assessments. On average, the children’s knowledge regarding which foods feed each body system increased up to 40%. 

We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with HACA in the summer of 2020 and beyond. 

Snack Science Educating the Educators

We are also pleased to have partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown (BGCG) this year, thanks to the help of the Georgetown Health Foundation. This was our first opportunity to “Educate-the-Educators”. HealthStart staff trained BGCG staff on our Snack Science CHEWS curriculum explaining, of course, the science behind the workshop activities and the snacks the kids would be making. BGCG completed their first workshop series this past fall and will begin another series the spring of 2020 with a whole new group of kiddos! We’ll be there along side BGCG to continue collecting evaluation data and deepening their understanding of the materials they are teaching. 

If your organization is interested in learning more about a training and Snack Science license for your after school or summer program, please contact Sharon Burley at sharon@healthstartfoundation.org. 

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