The South continues to rise, or at least expand. For the sixth year in a row, Mississippi has tipped the scales as the most obese state in the country. Many people have taken matters into their own hands around the state, including Dr. Kathy Knight. Her nutrition intervention program called ‘Eating Good and Moving Like We Should’ targets children and families all over the Delta.
“We just can’t seem to get a big handle on it,” Knight said. “It’s a growing problem.”
In Bolivar, Coahoma, Panola, and Quitman counties, the program has served over 3,200 children in two and a half years. The program provides evaluation of the health status of children nutrition and active lifestyle education by a registered dietician or health educator, school gardens for hands on nutrition education and physical activity, community healthy cooking classes, community outreach at local functions and a community weight loss group.
‘The thing about this program is it’s not a particular set of rules” Knight said. “It’s a way of involving the community with the school and it may look different in every community that we are in but the goal is to get children to make healthier choices.”
Apart from her program, Knight is the Interim Chair of Nutrition and Hospitality Management at the University of Mississippi. After graduating Ole Miss as a biology major, she married her husband and went to Mississippi State where she earned her Masters in Nutrition and later went onto Auburn to get her Ph.D. Knight followed her husband back to Ole Miss in 1985, not knowing there was a job opening.
“I wasn’t expecting there to be a job open but I applied and got the job,” Knight said. “It was pretty coincidental and pretty great.”
As Interim Chair, Knight makes sure that everyone above her and everyone below her has everything they need to do their job. She also makes sure that students have everything the need to be successful, whether it be meeting to talk about their schedule or pitching in as a teacher for their classes. Knight says her favorite part of her job is that every day is something new and exciting.
“Most days I really and truly my day is never the same,” Knight said. “When I come to work I don’t know what I am going to be doing that day.”
When a long day is over, Knight laughs when she talks about dinnertime. After being around food all day, the last thing she wants to do is make an extravagant meal.
“I love to cook when I have time,” Knight said. “By the time I get home from work I just want something quick and healthy…there are no gourmet meals every night like all of our friends think.”
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