Education Programs
Mississippi in Motion
MIM is a program that can improve the health of Mississippi county residents, industry employees, and individuals on university campuses by helping people increase their physical activity and develop healthier eating behaviors.
Mississippi in Motion is a 12-week educational program focusing on developing healthy habits for life.
Healthy Habits for Life
Healthy Habits for Life is a six-week program to help participants build lifelong eating and fitness habits that includes good nutrition, consistent physical activity, body appearance and a positive attitude. The program is designed to encourage participants to make gradual permanent lifestyle changes resulting in higher energy levels and decreased health risks. Healthy Habits for Life manuals to accompany the program can be ordered for $15.00.
Take Care of Yourself
Participants will learn to apply assertiveness, decision-making, and communication skills to health problems, and to negotiate the healthcare system more effectively. This 1-hour workshop teaches participants to observe and describe health changes, recognize true emergencies, manage minor health problems at home, and decide if a health professional is needed. As a result, participants improve the quality of their healthcare, avoid unnecessary expense, and use medicine more wisely. Appropriate for all age adults. A limited number of free books are available for participants in this workshop.
Take Charge of Your Health
An entertaining and informative program that emphasizes the importance of incorporating healthy habits into daily life and helps families to understand why it is important for them to Take Charge of Their Health.
The Strong Women Program
A fitness program for women based upon extensive research involving strength training and women's health. women learn how to stay strong, feel better, and maintain their independence with exercises that are easy to learn, and have been proven safe and effective.
Organizing Your Health and Safety
Participants learn that safety issues, emergency preparedness, and early detection and disease prevention all take planning and preparation. In a 1-hour session, participants learn to organize health records, gather simple first aid materials, and keep track of preventive services. These strategies make it easier to maintain records and schedule recommended preventive exams, immunizations, and screening tests on schedule, and to make the best use of available healthcare services, time and money. Appropriate for all adults and parents of young children. Participants receive a booklet.
Know Your Numbers
Know Your Numbers encourages you to monitor four important measures of health: cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index. These numbers are key indicators of your risk level for having a major illness. If you know these numbers, you can take action to reduce your chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and many other chronic illnesses. Don't let your health "just happen"; know your numbers and take charge for a better life! This program is presented in partnership with the Mississippi Chronic Illness Coalition.
Early Detection of Breast Cancer
Exciting medical advances in breast cancer treatment depend on early detection. All women should follow recommended guidelines for breast self-exam, clinical exams and mammograms for teh best chance of breast health. This 45-minute program teaches younger and mature women how to perform breast self-exam (BSE) most effectively and to implement recommended guidelines with confidence. Clinical exams and mammograms are also stressed. Appropriate for teens and women of all ages.
Hats Off for Health
This video-based session takes a humorous approach to addressing the excuses women use for not having regular mammograms and pap smears as a part of breast and cervical cancer early detection. Women will find themselves thinking through their own situations as they see the portrayal of a number of characters whose excuses crumble in the face of facts.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV/AIDS
An organized and professionally presented program stresses abstinence and presents the facts to help youth understand the consequence of decisions that can result in non-curable STDs and /or teen pregnancy. The 50-minute presentation is based on Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Mississippi State Department of Health materials and includes prevention, transmission, signs and symptoms, treatment, and effects on one's health for the eight most common STDs and HIV/AIDS. Parental consent is required.
Dining With Diabetes
A dietitian, health agent, and diabetic educator present the keys for better control of diabetes in an organized, understandable format. Participants learn the four elements of control, meal planning, serving sizes and how to prepare foods with sugar substitutes and less salt and fat. The 6-hour seminar consists of a 2-hour session for three weeks. Food samples and recipes are provided if funding is available. Recommended for diabetics or those who prepare meals for and/or assist diabetics.
Publications
News
Zucchini is a versatile and budget-friendly vegetable, and this recipe takes a popular kitchen staple to the next level without a lot of prep time. I like to make these on nights when I want something a little more fancy than sliced zucchini with my meal. It’s also a terrific entrée for your friends or family members who don’t eat meat but will eat dairy and eggs.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The saying goes that tough times bring out the best and worst in people. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception, and consumers need to be wary of potential fraud related to the vaccine as it is rolled out.
Those who have not yet scheduled an appointment to receive their first dose will be waiting another month. On Jan. 15, the Mississippi State Department of Health reported that appointments may be limited until late January, as most of the state’s available vaccine inventory had already been scheduled or distributed.
A new year often signals a new start or reboot, which is a great thing. For many, this means setting health and wellness goals like losing weight, eating healthier, and being more physically active.To be able to achieve your goals and make your resolutions a reality, your goals need to be realistic and measurable.
The Mississippi State University Extension Service Head Start Program in Harrison County is proving resilient in safely living up to its mission of easing the transition to school for families with young children.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Researchers from the Mississippi State University Extension Service are looking to collect row-crop farmers’ feedback on stress related to farming.
The focus group sessions are part of the MSU Extension opioid prevention campaign PReventing Opioid Misuse In the SouthEast, or the PROMISE Initiative.
Participation involves answering a series of questions about farming, stress related to farming and the opioid epidemic. If a row-crop farmer agrees to participate in a focus group, the total time commitment will be two hours.
Success Stories
Variety trials exemplify Extension’s service to growers through pandemic
For 10 years, a small portion of Moody Farms in Tishomingo County has been sectioned off for cotton variety trial plots. That streak continued in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lexington coalition organizes food giveaway amid pandemic
When the Guardian (U.S. edition) released its article “In the poorest county, in America’s poorest state, a virus hits home: ‘Hunger is rampant’” in early April 2020, a local coalition in Holmes County had already organized to create a food pantry in Lexington.
4-H’er creates instructional video
4-H’ers learn by doing, pandemic or no pandemic. So, even though Aaron Lampley could not meet with the Winston County Photography Club, he could leverage technology to increase his own skills and share his expertise with other photo enthusiasts.
Extension supports city clerks during pandemic
Many things about the way Jo Ann Robbins did her job changed when coronavirus hit.
“The COVID-19 pandemic impacted my work and my personal life in ways I never dreamed possible”
4-H’er uses tech to unite club, serve community
Not many teens—or adults, for that matter—know the ins and outs of Robert’s Rules of Order, but 17-year-old Chasity Moses is making a habit of knowing and doing things that set her apart.
Watch

Conversations about Coronavirus: Interview with Wayne Madkin
Monday, April 27, 2020 - 11:30am