Reflection Paper

Natalie Briggs

For the past nine months I have volunteered 60 hours at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Medical Center (CCHMC) under the supervision of registered dietitian Barbara Lattin. I have

also had the wonderful opportunity during this time to work under several other dietitians such as

Mary Pat Turon-Findley, Ali Barnes, MarySusan Sewell and Michelle Hudgens.

Throughout this experience, I have learned a lot from how to talk to children and families

about eating well and living healthy lifestyles to learning how to make food fun and creative for

everyone. I have been able to interact with a variety of families from different socio-economic

backgrounds and lifestyles. I learned that sometimes to enable kids to eat more fruits and

vegetables, we need to get creative, such as making black bean brownies with applesauce in

them or smoothies, or colorful parfaits they can put together. Even the jerk chicken pockets the

families made in March had sweet potatoes mixed into the chicken mix in order to “discreetly”

add in vegetables and some of that Vitamin A for children who do not eat their vegetables. The

key is starting young when teaching children to eat healthier options. It all starts with the home

lifestyle choices. Many of the families I met, especially in the base campus in Cincinnati, did not

have a healthy family setup in terms of eating at home or even eating well in general. The

mothers tended to be obese and/or just let their kids eat whatever they wanted.

I observed as Barb would talk to the families about their eating habits. Towards children,

it would be more simple concepts and words, adding fun to cooking to get children on the path to

enjoying and making their own food. Towards the adults, Barb would be calmly upfront about

the choices they were making and would give them options of what instead to look for at the

grocery or when eating out. It would improve their health inside and out and would increase their

energy. The purpose of these nutrition classes is to introduce healthier food options and recipes

to families who need a little help starting up on their journey to wellness. Therefore, CCHMC

provides easy, portion-controlled and fun recipes. I enjoyed being a part of this and look forward

to continuing with Cincinnati Children’s for as long as I can.

My strengths during this experience were that I observed the dietitians closely, listened

well and I would help out wherever I saw a need. I was always ready to do something when they

needed me to. Additionally, I made my schedule very available to volunteer not only in the

hospital, but also outside during community events throughout the summer. I plan to continue

these when I can during my time at Miami. One of my weaknesses was that I did not know how

to talk to the kids, especially at first. I was not exactly sure what their situation was . . . how

much I should say or how much I should talk about my experiences in health, food and life. I

also have not had much experience with children besides helping out in church with the kids who

were around four years old. It was essentially all new! I am so glad that I improved in knowing

how to communicate with children of many ages about nutrition and when to incorporate

examples from my life as appropriate. Another weakness is that I am not nearly as creative as

other dietitians. There is a volunteer I frequently worked with, Catherine, who is studying to be a

dietitian at UC. When Barb would ask for suggestions for the nutrition classes, Catherine would

list off several creative and healthy ideas, whereas I felt I fell short. This could just be that I think

more logically or it could be I really needed this 420 experience to improve my creative cooking

ideas! Either way, I have learned a lot from not only all the registered dietitians but also with the

dietetic students I volunteered alongside.

Trends in the dietetic field I have noticed are the focus on reducing fat and sodium and

the emphasis on foods made fun and getting creative. Additionally, a lot of focus is on fast food

restaurants and how to eat out wisely with health in mind. In several of the community events I

went to, the CCHMC booths would highlight zero or minimal calories from drinks. Throughout

many of the nutrition classes, Barb would emphasize buying whole grains to break down slower

in the body and retain energy longer, draining fat out of meat dishes or buying the lean kinds,

and buying low-sodium soups and broths. Another large change in cooking is using Greek plain

yogurt as a healthier alternative instead of sour cream. It can be used in breads, parfaits, dips and

entrée meals. Specifically, with Cincinnati Children’s, they focused on getting creative such as

“ants on a log”—raisins on peanut butter in celery or on carrot sticks—or even salad on a stick or

sandwiches cut into fun shapes.

One of the pamphlets I passed out at the community events was the 5-2-1-0 path to

success. This explains the recommended 5 servings of fruit and vegetables (the size of your fist)

daily, limiting hours in front of technology like the television to 2 hours daily, including 1 hour

of exercise and physical movement daily and getting 0 calories from drinks throughout the day.

In order to address the rise of obesity in our culture, I plan on stressing the importance of this 5-

2-1-0 program, as well as emphasizing little ways to get active during the day. I could give

people quick and easy ideas and recipes to use in their busy schedules or even help teach a yoga

class! I want to help people take steps to reduce unnecessary calories such as caloric drinks from

their diets. I plan on motivating my friends and family to include fruits and vegetables in their

meals. I could see myself making meals every now and then for the girls I will live with in an

apartment this fall. By making them well-rounded, wholesome and healthy, I am already

broadening their horizons in different foods and different ways in making them. These hours

with Cincinnati Children’s has been absolutely of upmost value to my life as a future dietitian. I

look forward to spreading this knowledge to my friends and family and into my future career.