Greensburg Daily News — In March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics invited the country to “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right,” through the academy’s annual observance of National Nutrition Month.
Decatur County Memorial Hospital (DCMH) dietician Holly Pray and Marketing & Communications manager Lynzee McDowell were all too happy to accept that invitation and extend it to both hospital employees and to the community at large.
In a recent interview, McDowell told the Daily News, “DCMH offers several programs throughout the year that focus on all types of wellness: physical, financial, environmental and more. As we (DCMH) celebrate National Nutrition Month, we see March as an opportunity to highlight the many nutrition-related programs and services we offer our community.”
Among the initiatives Pray and McDowell worked and promoted in March is DCMH’s just-concluded “LiveWELL” program. LiveWELL, Pray explained was created in 2012 as a way to promote a healthy lifestyle at DCMH and in Decatur County at large.
DCMH Family Practice physician Jennifer Fletcher, MD, has participated in LiveWell and achieved impressive results.The 2014 edition, Pray explained, started in January and ran continuously through March 31.LiveWELL focuses on four elements of Living Well, including nutrition, fitness, physiological well-being and technology.
Participants in the program met with Pray one-on-one every other week throughout the three-month period to consult on a number of health-related measures, including activity levels, amount of sleep and sleep efficiency, and weight levels.
Each participant, Pray said, was provided with a BodyMedia Armband to wear during the program, the same device used on TV’s “The Biggest Loser.” According to the BodyMedia website, (http://www.bodymedia.com) the armband is a biometric device that provides round-the-clock data regarding calories eaten and burned, sleep and sleep quality, and activity and fitness levels. Pray used the biometric data to help continually customize each LiveWELL participant’s program.