Bringing public health to a children's hospital: Improving nutrition for patients, families, visitors and staff

As a health care system, we see the consequences of preventable diseases. As a children's hospital we have an obligation to lead the way in modeling healthy food choices for our patients, families, visitors and staff. As a leader in the pediatric community our goal is to serve children and families, enabling them to achieve optimum health, not to contribute to the problem by serving unhealthy food and beverages. All children, regardless of size, need to learn to eat healthfully, especially when they are ill or recovering from trauma, to aid in the healing process. For employees, we are committed to supporting a healthy work environment, and improving the health of our workforce. With health care reform, health systems will be held to a higher level of accountability as we reshape the patient experience; we need an environment that supports our role as a health promoting institution. Using a public health model, follow one children's hospital as they journey through the process of evaluating their food environment and plan for change including leadership and staff engagement, budgetary and renovation considerations, and communication strategies. The implementation of healthier choices was based on national guidelines and incorporated best practices for product choices, pricing, placement, promotion, purchasing practices, preparation, and portion size. Project barriers and challenges, as well as successful outcomes in changing institutional culture will be shared.