In the early 1900s children learned from Extension, then taught their parents through boys' and girls' clubs. In 1918, the clubs took on a special assignment to meet wartime needs for meats and edible fats. The clubs became Extension's 4-H youth program in the early 1920s.

Extension helped develop school lunch programs. In the early 1920s an Extension nutrition specialist recognized the importance of youth nutrition and studied the diets of young Minnesotans statewide. She worked not only with rural school programs, but also got the Minneapolis and St. Paul schools to distribute half pints of milk to students daily.