a recipe for health

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A Recipe for Health

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A delegation of US professionals in the field of preventive nutrition recently came to Rambam to learn from the Israeli experience

A group of US experts on nutrition visited Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC) last month as part of the Nutritional Health and Wellness Professional Delegation to Israel. During the tour, led by former President of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Connie Diekman, the group was hosted by Director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Dr. Gila Rozen, who exposed participants to different activities at Rambam related to preventive nutrition.

Connie Diekman, head of the delegation and past president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), pays tribute to Director of the Department of Clinical Nutrition Dr. Gila Rozen and her assistant director, Dana Weiner, at the end of the tour. RHCC©

During the visit, the group attended seminars, visited related projects, and were introduced to Rambam innovations such as a unique system for detecting patients at nutritional risk. Dana Weiner, assistant director of the department and dietician in Rambam’s Nephrology Department, delivered a lecture on the role of the dietician in treating nephrology patients.

Dr. Rozen spoke to the delegation about preventive nutrition activities of her department.
“I told them how we go into schools and kindergartens and teach children about nutrition and related environmental issues,” she said. “For example, we suggest that the children bring their food in lunch boxes as opposed to one-time-use plastic bags. This allows them to easily take all kinds of fruits and vegetables and it doesn’t contribute to unnecessary waste and litter.”
Dr. Rozen added that group “liked what they saw, hope to incorporate what they learned and altogether enjoyed their stay.”

The delegation aimed to bring to Israel selected professionals with special expertise, experience and interest in nutritional health and wellness. Here, group members exchanged ideas and addressed common issues with their Israeli counterparts. The visit was held under the auspices of the US-based People to People Ambassador Programs, which offers adults in various occupations the chance to experience personal and professional growth, as they interact with other professionals around the world through seminars, humanitarian efforts, and cultural activities. People to People’s ultimate goal is to bridge cultural and political borders through education and exchange.

In coming to Israel, the group had a specific goal: to learn about the incidence of malnutrition and its impact on health at both extremes of the weight scale. According to the delegation’s purpose statement, “As children in the United States struggle with the extremes of nutrition, both too much and not enough, it is important to develop awareness of nutritional status of children globally.”

Among the group’s primary interests were nutrition education for children, family understanding about healthful meal preparation, the role of nutrition in pediatric care, food availability and barriers to adequate nutrition, public policy and its role in nutrition education, the health care team and the dietician, research in the area of nutrition and children and globalization of food choices and its impact on Israeli health.