Get Fruved

by Accolades Staff
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A cooperative initiative between the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and 4-H Extension aimed at empowering college students to create obesity prevention programs for their peers and high school students received a $4.9 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture.

“Get Fruved,” the brainchild of Sarah Colby, assistant professor of nutrition, is a 4-H social marketing and environmental change initiative that harnesses the power of peer-to-peer interaction in an effort to get children, adolescents, and college students to eat more fruits and vegetables and adopt healthy lifestyles.

The term “fruved” alludes to fruits and vegetables.

“Students are so passionate about having an impact on the world. Their passion, commitment, and creativity are why this project is going to make a real difference.”

UT will partner with thirteen other universities nationwide for the project. More than 1,000 students have already joined together to create the intervention, which could range from stress management and gardening on campus to tackling food access issues and staging nights of dancing so students become more physically active.

Eventually, college students will move beyond their campuses and partner with high school students to help them develop a campaign for their high school environment. The hope is to have future funding that will allow the high school students to help middle school students do the same, and then middle school students to work with elementary students to design obesity prevention programs for elementary schools.

Find out more at fruved.com.

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