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“For our region, the most pressing health concern is obesity and its associated health problems. At AnMed Health, we believe strongly in the importance of partnerships. Our system has partnered with our community’s Eat Smart, Move More initiative, which promotes healthy eating and increased physical activity through a variety of methods. We have also partnered for the past two summers with the local Salvation Army Boys and Girls club to support their healthy eating and healthy activity curriculum.
Our hospital system also promotes healthy eating habits via a program called DocLink, which provides outreach to our local school systems. DocLink’s curriculum includes ‘Nutrition Detectives’ for 4th grade students and MyPlate for middle schoolers. In 2015, those two programs reached over 1,500 students.
In addition, AnMed Health provides educational materials on healthy eating and exercise via our medical outreach van visits and health fairs across our service area. Finally, as our community’s largest employer, we also recognize the importance of focusing on this issue internally. For the past three years, our hospital system has sponsored a team based employee weight loss challenge, and this year we’ve transitioned to an individual weight loss challenge called ‘The Battle of the Bulge.’ We also took another significant step toward this effort two years ago, when the decision was made to remove all fryers from our kitchens.
We recognize that addressing obesity is a challenge, but we are committed to continuing to work with our community to impact this critical population health issue.”
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