Healthy Living

Head, Heart, Hands, and Health - healthy living is part of the 4-H program and identity. We believe that healthy habits begin in families and communities. We strive to equip young people with healthy living knowledge and skills to physically, emotionally, and socially prepare them to meet today's challenges. 4-H Healthy Living programs address nutrition, fitness, substance abuse, safety, and social and emotional wellness.

4-H Healthy Living Events & Competitions

Virtual 4K Race

The Arkansas 4-H Virtual 4K Race is now closed and this year's winners are posted below. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from each division will be mailed a medal. Thank you for participating!

Girls Division Winners

1st place - Isabelle Dueñas, Sebastian County

1st place - McKenna Austen (Time 20:58)
2nd place - Ryleigh Carnathan, Pope County (Time 24:03)
3rd place - Cecillia Mora, Logan County (Time 24:43)
4th place - Serenity Mora, Logan County (Time 25:47)
5th place - Opal Samons, Montogomery County (Time 26:04)
6th place - Teegan Henry, Arkansas County (Time 29:53)

1st place - Olivia Godfrey, Logan County
2nd place - Virginia Lorene Vencil, Desha County
3rd place - Allison Howell, Clay County

1st place - Davonné Carnathan, Pope County (Time 30:27)
2nd place - Shelby Nix, Izard County (Time 42:04)
3rd place - Breanne Swann, Baxter County (Time 54:36)

1st place - Heather Henry, Arkansas County (Time 33:45)
2nd place - Dana Austen, Saline County (Time 36:20)
3rd place - Amanda Goodwin, Pike County
4th place - Kristi Part, Indpendence County
5th place - Amanda Stark, Prairie County
6th place - Michelle Barnes, Arkansas County

1st place - Launa Simmons, Pike County (Time 21:55)

1st Place - Pam Pugh, Poinsett County (Time 38.05)

Boys Division Winners

1st place - Baylor Swann, Baxter County (Time 32:25)
2nd place -Ryder Austen, Saline County (Time 36:33)

1st place - JD Young, Little River County (Time 21:38)

1st place - Connor Henry, Arkansas County (Time 32:03)
2nd place - Branson Smith, Baxter County (Time 42:23)

1st place - Marshall Dickey, Pulaski County (Time 20:22)

1st place - Justin Austen, Saline County (Time 26:50)

1st place - Robby Edwards, Washington County (Time 23:59)

4th H Meeting Challenge

The 4^th H Club Challenge is back again with some new changes!

Are your 4-H'ers ready to commit? The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service would like to invite your club to participate in the 4th H Club Challenge! Each club that completes the challenge before the deadline will enter into the $100 gift card drawing for their district! Each district will have three $100 gift cards to win! The first 25 clubs that complete the registration and pre-survey will get an extra entry. How does it work? Apply the 3 healthy practices (serve water as main beverage, had fruit or vegetable snack, and did 15 minutes of physical activity) at 6 or more 4-H clubs/meetings from January - December 2023.

Why is this important? We pledge our “health to better living” and in order to learn, practice, and advocate for healthy choices we are challenging clubs to practice healthy choices during their meetings. Learning these healthy habits early can have lifelong effects on the health of 4-H’ers. How does a club get started?

1. Register and complete pre-survey

2. Record the dates and activities in the 4^th H Tracker link. (The tracker link will be provided after registering.)

3. Share a picture of the physical activity and/or healthy snack demonstration from the meeting on social media. Be sure to use to include official hashtag #AR4HHealthyLiving

4. Submit all activities by December 31st, 2023.

Resources for Leaders and 4-H'ers
Club Challenge Curriculum
Snack Recipes Ideas
4th H Parent Letter

Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge

The Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge will be held on Friday, August 4th, 2023 at the Pulaski Technical Culinary Arts College in Little Rock, AR. This is a great facility for young future chefs to get a taste for the culinary life.

Registration is available through your local County Extension office. There will be a $160 TEAM FEE which will cover the cost of cooking ingredients and 4 team members to compete. Each team member will receive the 2023 Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge t-shirt. Payment must be made on or before the registration deadline.

Listed below are helpful resources to get your team started. Feel free to contact your local county extension office with any questions.

Helpful Resources

Healthy Living Programs & Activities

Coming Soon!

We all know that we need at least 60 minutes of moderate to intense activity every day, but how do you know that you’ve reached that intense level? It’s all about heart rate, but not everyone has a heart rate monitor with them, so we have some ways for you to recognize when you’ve hit that moderate to intense level!

Levels 1-2 are relaxation or easy walking, something you could do all day long.
Levels 3-4 are like fast walking or jogging, you’re still comfortable but breathing a bit harder.
Levels 5-6 are getting out of your comfort zone, starting to sweat and getting breathless when talking.
Levels 7-8, you can still talk but it’s getting really hard, you may grunt in response to questions, sweating hard, and can only keep up the activity for a short time longer.
Level 9-10 is the intense activity! You cannot speak, breathing really hard, sweating a lot; you will need to cool down or stop soon.

Check out this video to see the activity heart rate levels in action!

This fun physical activity dice game is an excellent way to get out of your normal routine and spice up your physical fitness game! Create your own die or use dice you have; write physical activities on one of them, and numbers on the other one! Watch the video for more instructions & an alternate way to play if you cannot print out or make your dice.

Dice Fitness Video

Healthy Living Projects

Foods and Nutrition projects help participants learn to make healthy food choices and to reduce the risk of illness and disease. Learning experiences center on nutrition, menu planning, and food buying. Food preparation techniques and food safety are also emphasized in this project area.

Projects in Food Preservation and Food Safety involve participants in learning and applying scientific principles of safe food handling to prevent foodborne illness. Participants also learn food preservation skills and methods.

Health and Fitness projects focus on activities promoting healthy lifestyles and a healthy self-image. Social, emotional, mental, and physical health are emphasized equally. Participants learn nutrition and exercise principles as they relate to health, appearance, lifelong fitness, and wellness.