FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital’s Nutrition Care Division provides guidance to Tricare beneficiaries on getting proper nutrition, managing weight and improving physical performance.
The dieticians assigned to GLWACH perform this role via office appointments and briefings at units — and now they are taking their expertise straight to the place many Fort Leonard Wood service members, their families and retirees get their food, the Commissary.
On Friday, 1st Lt. Brittany Powers, one of GLWACH’s dieticians, held a Commissary tour, where she walked the aisles with participants and helped them make more informed choices.
“It’s more hands on,” she said. “In the office, I can explain what to look at on a nutrition label, but here, we can look at the ingredients in the foods people buy, and we can talk more about what is in the product, rather than just trusting the marketing.”
Powers said her goal for the tours is to provide personalized strategies to help individuals meet their goals.
“The right choices may be different for different people,” she said.
One Fort Leonard Wood Soldier who has benefited from the work of the dieticians here is Staff Sgt. Jeremy Mchalffey, a combat engineer squad leader with 5th Engineer Battalion. He said he has visited GLWACH for a dietary issue, and then took advantage of the opportunity to do his weekly grocery shopping while on the tour — taking a lot of advice from Powers along the way.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said, just before rolling his cart to the cashiers. “I think it’s really beneficial. Some people, whenever they’re grocery shopping, have a tendency to not understand what they’re reading when they’re reading the labels.”
Powers said besides getting personalized dietary assistance from an expert, there are other good reasons to attend a Commissary tour: Participants can win a $50 Commissary gift card and certain foods are available to sample before purchasing — Mchalffey tried a protein drink, noting how delicious it was before loading a case into his cart.
“A lot of people have asked for something like this,” Powers said of the tours. “So, I just want to cater to the community and what they need.”
For more information on upcoming Commissary tours or other ways the Nutrition Care Division can provide assistance, call 573.596.1762.
Social Sharing