Four lucky winners at William Beaumont Army Medical Center received "healthy" gift baskets from the Nutrition Care Division, April 14.
The baskets were awarded as a prize for correctly answering trivia questions from booths set up by the NCD during March as part of National Nutrition Month.
"We set up a booth every Tuesday in March and asked trivia questions for a raffle," said Capt. Kimberly Feeney, chief, Clinical Dietetics Branch, NCD, WBAMC. "We created healthy gift baskets to motivate people to think about their nutrition."
In November, the release of the U.S. Army's first Health of the Force Report emphasized the impact nutrition has on Soldiers and the Army Community.
"It's not just important for Soldiers but for all," said Feeney. "Our health is dictated by the food and life choices we make."
Although not specifically focused on the nutrition of Soldiers, the report did note Ft. Bliss having substantially lower obesity levels (14 percent) than the national average (29 percent).
One of the recipients of the healthy gift baskets was Ricardo Espejo, a medical technologist at WBAMC. Espejo earned his prize by correctly answering the question, "Which of these animals cannot synthesize its own vitamin C?" From a list of animals, Espejo chose the guinea pig.
Healthy eating habits aren't new to Espejo, but he admits to not practicing healthy eating around the clock. A few years ago Espejo weighed in at over 260 pounds. Because of good eating habits he was able to lose 50 pounds.
"I used to eat like a bear but I would exercise a lot," said Espejo. "I used to bicycle everywhere. I stopped bicycling and I gained weight real quick."
Espejo acknowledged other culprits leading to his weight gain.
"You get into the habit of working and fall out of the habit of eating well," said Espejo. "I did better in my youth than I do now."
According to the report, barriers to healthy choices may include lack of access to healthy foods, time constraints aris¬ing from working through meals or working late, monetary constraints, and low motivation to make healthy choices.
"Food has a lot of social and emotional connotations," said Feeney, a native of Houston. "Food is around all our social gatherings but it also nourishes our body. The way we eat is going to affect us mentally and physically."
In order to combat poor eating habits, Feeney suggests following the MyPlate model of eating proper proportions. MyPlate was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion. The model suggests visualizing a plate divided into four sections containing servings of fruits, vegetables, protein and grains in each section with a dairy product as a beverage.
"Individuals don't have to eat perfect all the time," said Feeney. "But, there are ways to improve diets and help individuals eat better more of the time."
Feeney also suggests changing grocery-shopping habits and shopping along the outside of grocery aisles where most fresh food is found, versus processed foods in the aisles. To assist with good shopping habits, the NCD also offers appointment-based commissary tours.
"Our dietitians will walk through the commissary with patients and teach them how to understand labels and make good healthy shopping choices," said Feeney. "Anyone with Tricare can do it."
For more information about nutrition or schedule commissary tours, call 915-742-3521.
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