CLINICAL



National Nutrition Month 2015By Veronica ChocronThis year’s theme for National Nutrition Month (NNM) is “to bite into a healthy lifestyle”. In celebration of NNM and to help educate and encourage the public to lead a healthier life, I hosted nutrition-related events for visitors, employees and volunteers at the George Washington University Hospital. I promoted the events by placing a memo in the weekly newsletter, which appears on the GWUH homepage. Furthermore, I also placed 50 colored table tents which listed the events, on the cafeteria tables throughout the month of March. On Thursday, March 19, I set up a colorful table with a station to make stress-balls using children’s play sand, funnels and “Mindful” balloons (Image 1). Participants could also complete a “Rate Your Plate” sheet to be entered into the raffle. The raffle prizes included three home-made baskets filled with fresh fruits and healthy snacks, reusable shopping bags, and reusable containers (Image 2). The “Rate your Plate” is a questionnaire to help participants better understand their current diet. I then reviewed the results and provided simple recommendations to encourage participants to make healthy dietary changes. This was a very successful tool to create nutrition awareness. I also provided participants with information on reducing sodium intake, recipes and healthful eating tips. A patient special was also made available on March 19th, which included a Turkey Flatbread with Cranberry Mayo (Image 3). I printed colorful cards, which were placed on each patient’s breakfast tray in the morning (Image 4). On Friday, March 20th I again set up a brightly colored table in the hospital lobby and participants were asked a series of nutrition-related quiz questions to be entered into a raffle. I made NNM water bottle labels and provided participants with free water bottles to promote hydration. During this time, I also promoted the cooking demonstration, which was held during the afternoon in the Auditorium. I printed the below material and distributed the advertisement to remind participants to attend the event (Image 5). The executive chef assembled a professional cooking stage with the ingredients for the Citrus Asian Salmon Burger. He prepared salmon patties in advance for the audience and I distributed them during the demonstration. During the demo, I described the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as salmon (Image 6). The audience interacted with the Chef and me and there was an open discussion of nutrition and food-related topics.Overall, the events went very well. Most importantly, the public was exposed to valid nutrition-related information and was able to gain insight into their own eating habits. Unfortunately, the patient special was not ordered as frequently as expected. In the future, I would place a separate menu insert in the patient menu to advertise the special better. I would also remind the diet clerks to verbalize the special to the patients. If possible, I would also host the cooking demonstration in the cafeteria rather than the auditorium to help attract more visitors. I would also provide recipe cards of the salmon burger to viewers. As seen in Figure 1, the budget for NNM was 300 dollars and we were under budget. Figure 1ItemCostSand$15.00Funnels (3)$10.00Baskets (3)Free, courtesy of Mary GergelyWrapping paper$4.00Snacks$8.00Printed Materials$15.00Mini Salmon Burgers (20)$36.00Printed materials$25.00Total$113.00-80772039370000277368038608000Image 1Image 2326136038100000-12192036576000Image 3Image 4Image 5-333375552450Asian Citrus Salmon Burger =Crown of whole wheat bun, griddled1 1/2 oz Asian cucumber relish1 each Asian citrus glazed salmon burger1/8 oz spring mixHeel of whole wheat bun, griddledImage 6-838206286500 ................
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