News

Beebe Medical Center Celebrates National Nutrition Month

03/15/04

The American Dietetic Association's theme for March 2004, National Nutrition Month, is Eat Smart Stay Healthy! With the array of new diets and "quick fixes" in the news for weight loss, Beebe Medical Center's Nutritional Services Department recommends the following tips as guidelines for a lifetime of healthy eating:

Eat a variety of foods from the major food groups - grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats - to get the vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber necessary for good health
"Everything in moderation" is a sound guideline for healthy food choices. Allow yourself to enjoy foods from all food groups, including fats, but be mindful to limit the amount of some fats and sugars because they fill you up with less nutritional value. Additionally, excess fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium can lead to health conditions such as heart attack, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer.
Portion control is important - not only to keep the number of calories you consume in a healthy range for you - but also to enable you to incorporate as much variety into your eating habits as possible.
Incorporate activity and exercise into your lifestyle to help control your weight and increase your energy level.

“Beebe Medical Center’s Registered Dietitians provide individualized nutrition counseling by physician referral or appointment at our Wound Care Services/Diabetes Management department on Long Neck Road,” explains Kathi Fryling, R.D., director of nutritional services. “We are happy to provide information about specific nutritional needs and meal planning questions.”
Visit http://www.usda.gov/FNutrition.html for more nutritional information as well.

Beebe Medical Center’s “Battle of the Bulge”

Waging the 18th Annual “Battle of the Bulge,” 259 Beebe Medical Center employees joined 25 different teams in a fight to drop pounds from January 12 through February 27, 2004. After six weeks of weigh-ins, Beebe Medical Center is over 1,246 pounds lighter. Beebe’s Employee Health Department calculates all lost weight, individual and team, by the percentage of body weight lost. One team and two individuals emerged as “top losers:”

Top team: The Medical Records Department (team name “The Mad Cows”), which has participated almost every year, lost 4.46 percent of their total weight.
Top female “loser:” Sandra Sekcienski, Medical Records, who received a one-year membership to Body Works for Women, thanks to a generous donation from the owners.
Top male “loser:” Cary Rutherford, Emergency Department, who received two personal training sessions with generous compliments of Quest Fitness.

“Beebe Medical Center enjoyed another lively Battle of the Bulge this year, with creative team names and enthusiastic employees,” explained Jeanne Smith, R.N., of Beebe’s Employee Health Department, and originator of the Battle of the Bulge. “It’s never easy to lose weight, but “fighting” it as a team, with support and encouragement from coworkers, definitely makes it more fun. Anyone who makes an effort is a winner.”