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Nutrition and life skills for Missouri families
Free healthy eating classes for low-income Missourians
Family Nutrition Education Programs (FNEP) help low-income individuals and families achieve lifelong health and fitness by promoting balanced diets and active lifestyles. FNEP educators present the most current information from the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the USDA food graphic and other evidence-based sources in a way people can understand and use every day.
Classes are fun and free! Paraprofessional nutrition educators work with people in community settings, schools and at agencies. Participants learn and practice skills that pave the way for nutritional well-being and health.
Why FNEP?
If we eat better, we learn better, work better and feel better. Obesity, poor diets and decreased physical activity threaten the well-being of millions of low-income Americans. FNEP improves the health and prosperity of Missourians with limited resources by addressing this problem. Researchers have found that better health is linked to lower medical costs, less absenteeism from work or school and less dependence on emergency food assistance.
Programs tailored to meet your client’s needs
FNEP provides programming that meets your client's needs by considering age, culture, reading level and abilities. Using a learner-centered approach, these programs teach healthy habits through interactive discussions and hands-on activities. Classes are available for both adult and youth audiences.
For adults:
Adult audiences learn about:
- Making healthy food choices
- Being physically active
- Making meals from what’s on hand
- Shopping smart and stretching food dollars
- Keeping foods safe
- Nutrition and gardening
Additional lessons address nutrition during pregnancy, and feeding infants and children.
For youth:
- Youth audiences learn about:
- Basic nutrition and healthy eating
- Physical activity
- Food safety
- Nutrition and gardening
Improving lives:
Program success means lifelong skills for clients. Clients often tell us how FNEP has affected their lives, even years after they have participated. Nutrition educators share these stories:
“A young woman who participated in the program more than 10 years ago approached the nutrition educator. She was in the program as a child and is now the mother of three children. She asked the educator to teach her children the lessons she received in the program. She said the skills she learned were helping her raise her children.”
“One young girl in the family was so excited to share how much she had learned that she now helps cook healthier meals once a week. Beyond her excitement, her parents too were thrilled by the interest their children took in eating healthy. They now attend weekly farmers’ markets and use recipes the children received previously to make their favorite foods.”
FNEP nutrition educators receive many testimonials from clients. Each day there are new stories that bring home the same important message: FNEP makes a difference — a difference that means better health and fitness for a lifetime.