Nutrition Education
Our programs support individuals and communities to make healthy choices and be more physically active by facilitating policy, system and environmental changes and providing nutrition education classes. Classes, offered both online and in community settings, help participants improve diet quality, increase physical activity, and expand food resource management skills.
Supporting Strong Families
Our programs support parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and life stages to raise children who thrive by helping families recognize and build upon their strengths. Our work helps families remain strong in the aftermath of divorce, be prepared for when their young children begin school, and stay connected as their children move into adolescence.
Parenting Programs
Strengthening Families Program (SFP) 10-14
The Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14) is an evidence-based and nationally recognized curriculum that provides parent, youth and family education. The model is designed to be delivered in local communities for groups of 7-12 families and provides educational programs bringing caregivers and their children together in learning environments to strengthen the family unit. The program targets outcomes such as healthy parent-child communication, which reduces the risk of substance use and delinquency among youth, factors related to youth violence and cycles of poverty.
Guiding Good Choices (GGC)
Guiding Good Choices® is an evidence-based program for parents of pre-teens that emphasizes strong family bonds to stay on course toward better health and educational outcomes. Educational sessions provide caregivers information and tools to protect preteens and teens from the inevitable risks they encounter as they become more independent.
Positive Indian Parenting (PIP)
Positive Indian Parenting was designed to help parents and families remember traditional Native American teachings and to practice those teachings. In part one of each of the eight sessions, examples of traditional practices and teachings from several different tribes are discussed. Facilitators also share teachings from local areas and communities. Part two of each session discusses how to apply those traditional teachings and values in today’s parenting.
Promoting Consumer Safety
Our programs offer consumers evidence-based educational opportunities and resources on food safety, including how to buy, store, prepare and serve food. We help families stay healthy and avoid foodborne illness. Consumers learn about home food preservation and limiting food waste. Farm to table, eating local and growing your own food promotes self-reliance and sustainable food systems.
- Food Preservation—WSU Extension faculty and staff throughout the state provide education and training to the public to ensure they are using safe and effective techniques for preserving garden or market produce during the growing and harvesting season, which can help make fruits and vegetables and the food budget last longer.
Cultivating Health and Wellness
Our programs support individuals and families to lead productive lives and produce the next and future generations of healthy, responsible, and informed citizens. Our work provides evidence-based education and resources to improve knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to support financial, physical, and mental health.
- Diabetes Prevention Program—WSU Extension collaborates with the WSU College of Pharmacy, Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA), Washington State Department of Health, and Washington State Health Care Authority to bring the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) to communities around Washington. National DPP is based on a research study led by the National Institutes of Health and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that participants who lost 5% to 7% of their body weight (10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person) by making modest changes, reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. Participants meet as a group with a trained lifestyle coach and learn how to make important changes during 16 weekly classes and 6 monthly follow-up sessions. Trained lifestyle coaches facilitate group discussion and coach participants to make key behavior changes to support weight loss and reduce diabetes risk including: making healthful eating choices, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and adopting physically active lifestyles.