HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University's Nutrition Education Program has been working with kindergarten through second-grade classrooms this year to help them learn healthy habits.

The schools include Hite-Saunders, Highlawn, Guyandotte and Cox Landing elementary schools, along with Enslow Middle School. The program also is being conducted at several schools in Mason, Wayne and Kanawha counties.

This year, the Nutrition Education Program is being offered at Hite Saunders, Highlawn, Guyandotte, and Cox Landing elementary schools and at Enslow Middle School.

Tim Bender, director of the program, said the obesity epidemic is a nationwide problem, and they are trying to do their part locally.

"We want to give kids a chance to think about the impact obesity can have on their lives and to give them steps they can take to help establish a healthier generation," he said.

During the nine-week program, eight graduate students, two graduate assistants, and two nutrition educators visit mainly Title I schools where they conduct 30-minute classroom sessions per week. At these sessions, students take part in a lesson about nutrition where they are shown how to prepare a healthy meal. Every lesson also includes a taste-testing, which Bender says is pretty popular with students.

"The students are really receiving our program well, and we are getting very positive feedback from teachers and families," says Bender. "Our approach is to create a fun opportunity for behavior change. We hope to accomplish that by teaching them about the importance of good nutrition to feeling good and also the role engaging in regular physical activity plays in a healthy lifestyle."

For more information, please contact Tim Bender at Marshall University by calling 304-638-7984.