Nutritional medicine flight seeks to foster healthier eating habits in base patrons

  • Published
  • By Susan M. Barone
  • 88 ABW Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Air Force dieticians have always been leaders in fostering healthy eating habits in the populations they serve, according to the commander of the nutritional medicine flight at Wright-Patterson Medical Center. 

Demonstrating that leadership, Lt. Col. Jane Heetderks-Cox took on the challenge of finding ways for her flight to help the people they serve eat healthier. In her search, she has taken an innovative approach to the problem of unhealthy eating in Air Force members. 

"Fostering healthy eating habits is part of our core mission," she said. "One way we (dieticians) do this is by providing education and medical nutrition therapy to our population, which include people who are on special diets. 

"Another way we do this is by making food for our cafeteria patrons -- patients and the medical staff who serve them. We take both parts of our mission seriously since they both have an impact on health." 

So how do people respond to "healthy" food? The flight commander said that a 2006 National Restaurant Institute survey found that 71 percent of adults said that they wanted to eat healthier, but that people tended to choose foods based more often on what looks good, tastes good and what is inexpensive. 

Unfortunately, their choices often translate into higher sources of fat, saturated fat, trans-fats and calories, she said. 

"I once had a chief of medical staff tell me that since we're a hospital cafeteria all of our food should be healthy -- an interesting theory that also relates to the population's interest in diet," Heetderks-Cox said. 

She said the solution seemed obvious: make healthy food that people like; then "how to make that happen" came in an unexpected way. 

Heetderks-Cox said the answer presented itself during her 2006 trip to the Culinary Institute of America, which she said is one of the most respected cooking schools in the United States. 

"I was surrounded by people who were passionate about food," Heetderks-Cox said. "They created food that looked like art and it tasted even better. I was energized by the possibilities. I knew that if we could marry our expertise in nutrition with the look and taste of what I was seeing here, then we might be able to influence people's choices. 

Inspired, she said she decided to invite Ken Arnone, one of 61 certified master chefs in the United States, to the medical center to train other staff members. 

Arnone recently taught his techniques for transforming high-fat fare into healthy meals to about 30 food production members from the medical center, one cook from the Pitsenbarger Dining Hall and one from the child development center. Among the items the students made during this course were corned beef hash, oven-roasted catfish with a spicy Creole tomato sauce, chili macaroni, and grilled flank steak with Asian stir-fried vegetables. 

"I was just like a sponge all week," said one participant, Tech. Sgt. Eric Snead, of the nutritional medicine flight. "He just had a vast amount of knowledge for what we do here. He was great."

While this class was a success, Heetderks-Cox said "we still have a perception problem to overcome." 

Arnone relayed an example of this perception problem during his workshop, she said. A major restaurant chain he had worked with had perfected several items in their test kitchen that were lower in fat, healthier and tasted great. They included these items on the next menu in an area called "our healthier items." 

"They bombed," she said. "People might say they want to eat better, but when given a real choice, they don't always pick the healthier option.
"The chain revised the menu and took these items out of the healthy category and now they're a big hit." 

Heetderks-Cox said that the nutritional medicine flight staff members are enthusiastically developing a new menu that incorporates the techniques they've learned. Because choices are still important, patrons will see traditional favorites, such as French fries and desserts, but she said the staff hopes to eventually improve the nutrient profile of these items and to continue to expand the number of healthier alternatives available.