By Janet Zimmerman
This past week I had the opportunity to be a part of a SDA booth at the VA Hospital Health Fair. I always love being a part of extracurricular events that promote different aspects of the dietetics profession. I find it fun and meaningful getting experience within our field and being able to share my knowledge about food and nutrition with people who want to listen! It is always so exciting to me when people listen and actually want to learn (I’m sure you’ve found this is not always the case as well)!
Anyway, at the health fair, we got to talk to many people including hospital staff, family and friends of patients, and patients themselves. Our display was on volumetrics (comparing pictures of plates with the same energy density but differing volumes based on food choices). I find that pictures are powerful tools; they simply speak for themselves. People were grasping the concept of fruits and vegetables being very nutrient dense, low in energy density, and yet filling because of their fibrous qualities. ;-)
We also used a plate method handout to show them what a balanced plate looks like with half the plate as fruits and vegetables, ¼ as protein, and ¼ as whole grains. Again, many people told us that this helped them to see what their meals should look like and how to practically apply healthy eating into their lifestyles. As with anything, every person makes his or her own decisions concerning what lifestyle changes are made. I love being a part of the beginning of this process and being able to equip people with more information so that they can make better choices if they want.
What about you? Have you gotten to use the knowledge about food and nutrition to help others recently? I’d love to hear about your experiences or tools that you use.
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