Meeshay Williams-Wheeler, Ph.D.

Dr. Meeshay Williams-Wheeler has received a $500 grant from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for a project to combat the childhood obesity epidemic through gardening.

The project, FCSfitKIDS: Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity in a Family Mentor Experience, will teach undergraduates how to use gardening education and activities to encourage young children to eat healthy and stay active.

“I am very excited about receiving the mini-project grant from AAFCS,” says Williams-Wheeler, an associate professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Although it is not large in quantity, I believe it will make an impact on the lives of college students, young children and families.”

The project will use content from the course FCS 331: Family Systems, in particular the course’s Family Mentor Experience assignment. The assignment requires undergraduates to spend 20 hours during the semester interacting with N.C. A&T Child Development Laboratory children and families in their homes.

“As a family life educator, I value the role of the parents in children’s health and socioemotional development and feel FCSfitKIDS will provide families with the information and skills they need to achieve optimal well-being,” Williams-Wheeler says.