Kids In The Kitchen
In February of 2006, Junior Leagues from across four countries implemented an international initiative called Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen, designed to help communities address the urgent issues surrounding childhood obesity and poor nutrition. This program was developed in response to alarming statistics that an increasingly large percentage of children and adolescents in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, the leagues will provide materials and educational initiatives to help families address the urgent issues of poor nutrition and childhood obesity. These issues are substantially increasing the risks that adolescents will develop health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
In its first year, more than 200 Junior Leagues participated in the program and provided educational initiatives for children and families in their communities. To date, media coverage has reached over 80 million people with messages about the issues surrounding childhood obesity and the Junior League’s initiative to address these.
Junior Leagues' Kids in the Kitchen was recently deemed an ongoing awareness intiative for the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. Activities for the program's second year will focus around March, 2007, which incorporates National Nutrition Month in the United States and Canada.
This League-wide initiative not only addresses a growing problem facing today’s children but also honors the Junior League’s long heritage of impact on family nutrition over the past 105 years. As Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen continues in 2007, Leagues look forward to building upon Kids in the Kitchen’s impressive first year and continuing to address the important issues related to childhood obesity and poor nutrition.
The Junior League of Lubbock partnered with local community organizations Covenant Health System, Covenant Heart Institute, Kids Cafe, South Plains Food Bank and South Plains Mall for the 2006 program.
For more information, click here to visit the Association of Junior League International's Kids in the Kitchen website.
