Posted: 1/17/06
New nutrition worker joins county extension
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Judy Lacey bring 15 years of experience to Houston County as the U of M Extension Service nutrition education assistant.
Lacey has held the job in Fillmore County for that length of time, working primarily with mothers in the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program. Her job in Houston County is 4/10 time. It is a new position here.
She will work with WIC clinics here too, plus at group homes, Bluff Country Learning Options alternative school in Hokah, and with womenís groups.
ìIt is all basically lower income people, but I also will be working with 4-H kids. [Iíll be working] Many places. Where ever they decide they need me.î
Nutritional education has many faces. Lacey teaches how important snacks are to children, how to determine portion size, and what a healthy snack would be. She listed things like bagels with peanut butter; any fresh fruits or vegetable; cheese and crackers; plain yogurt with fruit; and milk and graham crackers.
ìThere are lot of them,î Lacey said. ìParents role model what a healthy snack would be, whether we realize it or not.î
Lacey teaches parents to eat balanced meals; the importance of breakfast, portion sizes, and even ways of handling stress that donít involve eating.
For little kids, drinking water and milk instead of pop is very important, Lacey said. Thatís because pop destroys their appetite and tells them their body is full because of the carbonation in the pop. Kids who drink pop end up not eating enough, she said.
Staying active and how that affects your appetite is another big aspect, she said.
One display Lacey presented in Fillmore County asked parents, ìAre you really getting juice when you buy juice, and how do you know?î For example, Lacey said she gave her own seven children Hi-C. ìAnd it was not juice, it was Kool-Aid like.î
Another display showed the amount of sugar in three different kinds of soda pop. ìAnd people were just shocked at the amount of sugar in each can. It was a real eye opener.î
Lacey likes her job, in particular seeing people change and improve from good nutrition.
ìYou can tell, seeing them advance and mature in that,î she said. ìAs long as Iíve done it in Fillmore County, Iím starting to see a big difference in people.î
It makes her glad to see these people on the street and with healthy children, and hear them say ìWowî about the positive changes they have made.
Everybody can benefit from nutrition education, Lacey feels. She said the federal government would like to see every pregnant woman, nursing mother, and child to age 5 in a WIC program for that.
ìItís a shame what you see,î she said of some familyís habits.
Judy and her husband, Ken, live in Chatfield. They have seven children, six living. They quit dairy farming last year.
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