Colorado nutrition program teaches gardening to get kids to eat veggies

A nutrition assistance program in Colorado is working to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables in children’s diets by teaching them more about gardening, according to a news release from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The statewide program, called “Cooking up Healthy Options with Plants, launched in March in child care centers and homes supported by the Colorado Child and Adult Food Care Program, a health department program that provides nutrition assistance and education to care programs serving low-income Coloradans.

“The CHOP program provides children experience in growing their own food,” said Tanya O’Connor, nutrition consultant for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Gardening will help these children experience the wonder and bounty of nature while developing healthy eating habits for a lifetime.”

The CHOP program aims to teach children the behaviors that lead to a healthier lifestyle. In Jefferson County, 92 percent of children consume less than the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day. One of every three Jefferson County adults consumes less than one serving of fruit each day.

To change this, the CHOP program includes gardening to its nutrition curriculum and encourages participating day care centers and homes to plant gardens.

Learn more about the program here: Cooking up Healthy Options with Plants.

The Jefferson County Food Policy Council aims to increase equitable access to healthy, local and affordable food and support a sustainable community food system. To learn more about the council or become a member, go to http://www.healthyjeffco.com/foodaccess.

To learn more about WIC, which provides supplemental nutrition to families in Jefferson County, go to http://jeffco.us/public-health/healthy-families/women-infants-and-children/

“Put Your Best Fork Forward” - March is National Nutrition Month

Jefferson County Public Health and the JCPH WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program encourage everyone to “Put Your Best Fork Forward” for this year’s National Nutrition Month®.  

“Put Your Best Fork Forward” acts as a reminder that each bite counts. Making just small shifts in our food choices, can add up over time. More specifically this year’s theme focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. 

Making small changes during National Nutrition Month®, and over time, helps improve health now and into the future. 

The National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests everyone try the following five ways to make eating healthier easier: 

1. Create an eating style that includes a variety of your favorite, healthful foods. 
2. Practice cooking more at home, and experiment with healthier ingredients.
3. How much we eat is as important as what we eat. Eat and drink the right amount for you, as MyPlate, a healthy eating tool from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, encourages us to do.
4. Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week.
5. Manage your weight and lower your health risks by consulting a registered dietitian nutritionist. Registered Dietitian Nutritonists (RDNs) can provide sound, easy-to-follow personalized nutrition advice to meet your lifestyle, preferences and health-related needs.

Eating healthy also means paying close attention to what you and your family are drinking. Many parents and caregivers are not aware of the hidden sugar in many of the beverages that they give to their children. That’s why Jefferson County Public Health, in conjunction with the Healthy Beverage Partnership,  is promoting a new campaign aimed at educating parents and caregivers about the harmful effects of sugar, and informing them of the high sugar content in many of the beverages they may be giving to their kids. 

Parents are encouraged to visit www.hidden-sugar.org and take a pledge to reduce the amount of sugary drinks they provide to their children. Pledge to serve your family healthy beverages for 30 days and you’ll be automatically entered to win a family plus membership to the Denver Zoo, Children’s Museum, or the Museum of Nature and Science. 

JCPH also has more about this topic on display in the Jefferson County libraries throughout the months of March and April, with educational handouts available. 

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day is celebrated March 8 and raises awareness of registered dietitian nutritionists as the indispensable providers of food and nutrition services. JCPH recognizes RDNs for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives. Click here to download flyer and Meet the JCPH RDNs. You can also learn more about what they do for the JCPH WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Program by watching this video. 

For more information on National Nutrition Month, please visit Eat Right, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Visit http://jeffco.us/public-health for more information on Jefferson County Public Health and the WIC Program, one of the communituy nutrition resources JCPH offers.

The Jefferson County WIC Program is an active member of Healthy Jeffco, a network of over 300 community partners working collectively to make Jefferson County a healthier place to live, learn, work and play.

Celebrate Healthy Food Choices: National School Breakfast Week

Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) wants all Jefferson County children as healthy and strong as possible in order to make the grade this school year! National School Breakfast week from March 2-6, 2015 is right around the corner. The NSBW 2015 theme, “Make the Grade with School Breakfast” is about understanding and encouraging the learning connection between healthy breakfast and good grades, attendance, and less visits to the nurse’s office.

JCPH understands the importance of fostering a healthy diet and making healthy food choices for children from day one. Our Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program can get answers to your health and nutrition questions. WIC helps mothers make infant feeding choices and provides breastfeeding support, children's growth checkups and referrals to other health services. Additionally, you can get one-on-one help to learn how to make healthy meals for your family to ensure everyone in your family is getting the proper nutrition and therefore achieving optimal health.

For toolkits, handouts, activity sheets and more information and fun activities, visit the School Nutrition Association’s National School Breakfast Week webpage.

For information on the JCPH WIC program visit our Women, Infants and Children webpage.

Everyone and Every System has a Role in Creating a Healthier Jefferson County

Public Health Thanks Jefferson County Hospitals for Encouraging Healthy Food and Beverage Consumption

Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) applauds Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood for their involvement in the Colorado Healthy Hospital Compact. Compact members agree to promote healthy food and beverage options in cafeterias, vending machines, and patient menus, and/or support new moms with breastfeeding.

The Colorado Healthy Hospital Compact is an excellent example of how Jefferson County systems are working together to create healthier people in healthier places. JCPH’s executive director, Dr. Mark B. Johnson said, “Lutheran Medical Center and St. Anthony Hospital continue to demonstrate their commitment to the health and wellbeing of their staff and patients by encouraging healthy food and beverage consumption. We are happy to be able to partner with both hospitals in building a healthier Jefferson County.”

Both hospitals chose to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages to provide a healthier environment for patients and their families, staff and visitors. Joining the Compact allows the hospitals to work with state and local health departments and other Colorado hospitals to implement the best practices in hospital nutrition and breastfeeding support.

While Colorado is the leanest state in the nation, one in five Colorado adults and one in seven Colorado children are obese. Obesity puts people at risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Coloradans spend more than $1 billion each year on obesity-related health care. Public health professionals point out that hospitals can play a critical role in reducing obesity by working with the health department and other hospitals in the compact to develop best practices in hospital nutrition and breastfeeding. Jefferson County’s Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and accompanying comprehensive community health assessment completed in 2013 identified physical inactivity, poor diet and psychosocial stressors as the highest priority areas to address in the county. JCPH continues to encourage multi-sector partnerships to promote health and wellness and remove barriers to healthy living.

• For more information or to join other professionals and engaged residents working on access to healthy food and physical activity, please contact Molly Hanson, JCPH policy analyst at mhanson@jeffco.us. Information about Jefferson County is also available on Healthy People Healthy Places Jefferson County, a collaboration of health partners, individuals and organizations in the county committed to implementing the CHIP.
  
• For more information on the Colorado Hospital Compact, contact Susan Motika at CDPHE or go to www.colorado.gov/cdphe/healthy-hospital-compact. 

Health is more than Health Care . . .

Access to healthy food makes a big difference
by Erika Jerme, JCPH Planner

Health is more than health care. How healthy we are, and whether or not we will get sick, is shaped by the houses and neighborhoods we live in, the schools and worksites we spend our days in, and the communities in which we play and age.

One way these places shape our health is through our access to healthy food. Think about where you go to get your groceries. How do you get there? How long does it take you to get there? How do you get your groceries home? If you have a car, these questions probably aren’t that big a deal. But imagine if you didn’t have a car: how would that change your experience of buying groceries? Would you still be able to shop at the same store, or would you have to shop somewhere closer to home, even if that meant the selection or prices were not as good?

Many neighborhoods in the US don’t have grocery stores within a half-mile radius, a reasonable distance to walk with a couple bags of groceries. The US Department of Agriculture has a name for these neighborhoods: food deserts. Across the US, low-income neighborhoods have 25% fewer supermarkets than do middle-income neighborhoods, while predominately African-American neighborhoods on average have half the number of supermarkets found in predominately white neighborhoods.[i] Although low-income neighborhoods may have smaller food stores, fresh fruits and vegetables generally cost more, are of lower quality, and are less available at small stores than at supermarkets or large grocery stores.[ii]

What do these food deserts mean for health? We know that eating a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables is important for healthy living. People who live near supermarkets or other food stores that sell fresh produce eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and have lower rates of chronic diseases than people with limited access to healthy food.[iii] Moreover, as the price of fresh fruits and vegetables rises, consumption of these healthy foods decreases.[iv] For someone who doesn’t drive or doesn’t own a car, getting to a store that sells affordable, fresh fruits and vegetables can be very difficult.

Here in Colorado, people are taking action to make sure everyone has access to healthy food, regardless of what neighborhood they live in. For example, the Colorado Fresh Food Financing Fund can support a wide range of activities that improve access to healthy food retail. Some examples include: business start-up and expansion costs; opening a new store; keeping a store open under new ownership; new or upgraded equipment and displays; land assembly; and developing an innovative business concept. Click here for a program overview, detailed program guidelines with eligibility criteria, or the pre-application form.

Just down the street from Jefferson County Public Health in Lakewood’s Two Creeks neighborhood, Sprout City Farms has broken ground on a brand new urban community farm at Montair Park.  Mountair Park is located at 14th & Depew St., and  approximately 1.25 acres will be converted to farm. This farm will bring much-needed fresh produce to the neighborhood. And many Jeffco neighborhoods have community gardens where people can grow their own food, even if they don’t have a yard.

To get involved in increasing healthy food access in your neighborhood, email us at healthyjeffco@jeffco.us. 

1 Powell, LM, Slater, S, Mirtcheva, D, Bao, Y, & Chaloupka, FJ (2007). Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States. Preventive Medicine, 44, 189–195.

2 Odoms-Young, AM, Zenk, SN, Karpyn, A, Xochitl Ayala, G & Gittelsohn, J (2012). Obesity and the Food Environment Among Minority Groups. Current Obesity Reports, 1(3), 141-151.

3 PolicyLink & The Food Trust (2010). The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters. Available at http://www.policylink.org/atf/cf/%7B97C6D565-BB43-406D-A6D5-ECA3BBF35AF0%7D/FINALGroceryGap.pdf.

4Odoms-Young, AM, Zenk, SN, Karpyn, A, Xochitl Ayala, G & Gittelsohn, J (2012). Obesity and the Food Environment Among Minority Groups. Current Obesity Reports, 1(3), 141-151.

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