The Root Issue
Each year in the United States, unhealthy diets contribute to approximately 678,000 deaths from nutrition- and obesity-related diseases. Numbers indicate that the prevalence of diseases such as heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes—caused in part by Americans consuming too much solid fat, sodium and processed sugar, and not enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains—will only continue to rise, unless something is done to address the issue.
This is the story of one Vitality client who is trying to do that.
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Children’s Hospital Colorado (Children's Colorado) is a leading pediatric hospital nestled at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Aurora, CO. They excel in providing family-centered, holistic care and are consistently ranked among the top Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Recognizing a likeminded commitment to a holistic healthcare approach, they chose Vitality to be their wellness vendor of choice in 2013.
As a high-profile pediatric healthcare provider, Children's Colorado acknowledged not only an obligation to promote the health of their young patients, but the community at large, so in 2012 they established the “Healthy Hospital” initiative. Healthy Hospital would ensure they were modeling the behaviors for which they were advocating in clinics, in the community and at the legislative level.
“Healthy Hospital really focuses on patients, families, visitors and team members, and focuses on the built environment—the policies, how we conduct ourselves, and that for which we’re advocating in the community,” said Katie O’Connor, Wellness & Healthy Hospital Manager at Children's Colorado. “Selling sugar-sweetened beverages is one example. Our weight management clinic here at the hospital has quadrupled in the past several years. We know that obesity is an epidemic, so we, as an organization, can’t be selling sugar-sweetened beverages. We should be leading the way on what it means to be a healthy institution and live a healthy lifestyle.”
A Seed is Planted
In 2012, the team at Children's Colorado met with 25 representatives of other children’s hospitals across the country to audit their food and beverage environments in response to childhood obesity. “We basically asked, ‘What can we do as an organization to promote better nutrition and to model [healthy] behaviors?’” said O'Connor. Children's Colorado answered that question by beginning to promote more water consumption, healthier food and breast feeding in the community. They then developed a Healthy Hospital Nutrition Committee to focus specifically on creating policies and programs to increase the nutritional environment at the hospital and decrease the unhealthy items they were serving.
“It ventured into a more inclusive definition of nutrition. So, when talking about healthy food not just talking about the nutritional quality, but how the food was procured. Is it local? Are we giving back to our local economy? Is it sustainable? Are there any antibiotics in the foods that we're serving?”
“It ventured into a more inclusive definition of nutrition. So, when talking about healthy food not just talking about the nutritional quality, but how the food was procured. Is it local? Are we giving back to our local economy? Is it sustainable? Are there any antibiotics in the foods that we're serving?””
A Garden Grows
With a committee in place, the Children's Colorado's focus turned toward implementing an idea that had been circulating around the hospital for years—a holistic, on-campus garden. After sign-off from the executive team, O’Connor, in partnership with Denver Urban Gardens, brought the garden to life in 2018.
“The garden, which covers 3,000 square feet, houses more than two dozen types of vegetables and berries. It’s amazing right now. It’s a lush jungle out there. We have what we call Veggie Town, which is a micro farm in the back. And that’s all high-yield growing,” says O'Connor.
“High-yield” might be an understatement. The micro farm features numerous types of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, kale, chard, mustard greens, berries, broccoli, squash and melons, to name a few items. And in the same way that there seems to be no limit to the kind of produce they grow, there also seems to be no limit to the ways in which they are able to use the garden to promote the of health of the hospital community.
“We have an on-site school here for kids with high acuity issues. The kids have been active participants in the garden. [Here] they have a holistic healing environment and experience naturally grown and harvested food [and] can understand where food comes from and what real food is.” The therapies department also uses the space to host therapy sessions for the children, while the Clinical Nutrition department uses it as a teaching tool.
Children aren’t the only people who benefit from the garden. The hospital hosts volunteer events in the garden to promote the social aspect of health through social networking and team member engagement. The hospital also organizes yoga classes to encourage physical health, while the Healthy Hospital Nutrition Committee uses it as the visual anchor point for their food security efforts.
As for actually eating the fruits and veggies? That happens too. “We will send an email out to our wellness champs, and we’ll say ‘Hey, on Friday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., bring a bag, come by and take a bag full of produce home.’ So, that’s a cool perk for our team members.”
The Future
With unhealthy diets contributing to nearly 678,000 deaths every year, doctors have turned to food pharmacies as a solution. Instead of medicine, doctors prescribe healthy food because they've found that doing so can help people prevent, and even reverse, diabetes, lose weight, and avoid numerous conditions.
Food pharmacies have had tremendous success in helping people become healthier across the country, so Children's Colorado launched their very own “Healthy Roots Food Clinic” in October 2019. Beginning next year, it will be serviced in part by the garden. With a Food Security Specialist and a full-time urban gardener taking care of the garden, the plan is to continue to find new ways to promote health through it.
When it comes to changing the health landscape for Americans, the grim reality is that there's a steep mountain to climb. The number of illnesses and deaths being attributed to poor diets is too high. But as Children’s Hospital Colorado is proving, there is something we can do about it. The climb up the mountain may start by first building a garden at the base of it.