Monday, February 08, 2010
Healthy eating is a year round priority
Super Bowl Sunday is only a memory now, but if you made unhealthy choices over the weekend the impact of the calories you consumed remains.
However, if you were among the more than 200 people who Google analytics says viewed our Super Bowl healthy snack video at www.backushospital.org/nutrition, you were able to enjoy a sumptuous buffalo chicken dip -- and cut calories at the same time. The recipe, which was also posted on the website, used hummus and Greek yogurt instead of some of the usual calorie-laden ingredients.
Some might wonder why a hospital Food and Nutrition Department spends its time on videos like this. It’s because the hospital’s mission includes improving the health of the community – and we take that mission seriously.
One way to do that is to offer health information on topics people are interested in. Time and time again, our hospital’s communication department views statistics that show nutrition is among the most popular topics among people who are on our website or who receive our e-newsletter.
By writing about nutrition information, posting videos and creating entire websites on this topic, we are offering health information that people care about.
It’s hard to tell whether the community is healthier because of it, but we can track some of our efforts.
Soon after we posted the Super Bowl food video, the Colchester Parks and Recreation Department sent out an e-newsletter to thousands of town residents directing them to our video and website. Google analytics can tell us how many people view our videos and visit our nutrition web site. These are good barometers that are message is getting out.
And our educational efforts will continue. Several members of our department contribute to this weekly Healthy Living column; we recently completed a handout, “Food Guide Pyramid Overview,” which we share with our patients; and our next project is in conjunction with National Nutrition month in March. We are creating a brochure with recipes and tips highlighting National Nutrition Month’s theme of “Nutrition From the Ground Up.” Our dietitians will contribute information and advice on how to increase the use of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in everyday eating. This, too, will be available in print and online.
In other words, the Super Bowl and its accompanying video are once per year, but our efforts to educate the community on diet and nutrition are ongoing.
Todd Osowski is the Assistant Director of the Backus Hospital Food and Nutrition Department. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your physician. E-mail Osowski or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org. To comment on this or other Healthy Living columns, click below or go to the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs.
However, if you were among the more than 200 people who Google analytics says viewed our Super Bowl healthy snack video at www.backushospital.org/nutrition, you were able to enjoy a sumptuous buffalo chicken dip -- and cut calories at the same time. The recipe, which was also posted on the website, used hummus and Greek yogurt instead of some of the usual calorie-laden ingredients.
Some might wonder why a hospital Food and Nutrition Department spends its time on videos like this. It’s because the hospital’s mission includes improving the health of the community – and we take that mission seriously.
One way to do that is to offer health information on topics people are interested in. Time and time again, our hospital’s communication department views statistics that show nutrition is among the most popular topics among people who are on our website or who receive our e-newsletter.
By writing about nutrition information, posting videos and creating entire websites on this topic, we are offering health information that people care about.
It’s hard to tell whether the community is healthier because of it, but we can track some of our efforts.
Soon after we posted the Super Bowl food video, the Colchester Parks and Recreation Department sent out an e-newsletter to thousands of town residents directing them to our video and website. Google analytics can tell us how many people view our videos and visit our nutrition web site. These are good barometers that are message is getting out.
And our educational efforts will continue. Several members of our department contribute to this weekly Healthy Living column; we recently completed a handout, “Food Guide Pyramid Overview,” which we share with our patients; and our next project is in conjunction with National Nutrition month in March. We are creating a brochure with recipes and tips highlighting National Nutrition Month’s theme of “Nutrition From the Ground Up.” Our dietitians will contribute information and advice on how to increase the use of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in everyday eating. This, too, will be available in print and online.
In other words, the Super Bowl and its accompanying video are once per year, but our efforts to educate the community on diet and nutrition are ongoing.
Todd Osowski is the Assistant Director of the Backus Hospital Food and Nutrition Department. This column should not replace advice or instruction from your physician. E-mail Osowski or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org. To comment on this or other Healthy Living columns, click below or go to the Healthy Living blog at www.backushospital.org/backus-blogs.
# posted by ----------------- @ 5:21 PM 
