ARAMARK Showcases Health and Wellness Programs for National Nutrition Month

This is the first in a series of articles celebrating March as National Nutrition Month, and showcasing ARAMARK’s health and wellness programs for clients, customers and communities. We enable healthy choices, educate people about nutrition and physical fitness, encourage them in their efforts to lead healthier lives and create engaging, specialized programs that meet their individual needs. In this first article, Dan Wainfan, ARAMARK Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness talks about ARAMARK’s approach to health and wellness. Throughout March, we will feature information about the work we’re doing in this important area across our company, and in our communities. For more information, visit  http://nutrition.aramark.com/

ARAMARK is committed to advancing health and wellness every month of the year, but in March, which is National Nutrition Month, our dietitians and culinary professionals take the opportunity to highlight the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits each and every day.

On any given day, ARAMARK serves millions of customers around the world. We serve meals in elementary schools, colleges and universities, at hospitals and nursing homes, in businesses and sports stadiums, even at correctional facilities.   Providing healthy choices in all of these environments has never been more important.   Since nutrition-related illnesses, like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are all growing public health issues,  our clients, customers and community partners look to us to offer a range of solutions that can help to support healthier lifestyles.

Childhood obesity, for example, has nearly doubled in the past decade, impacting the schools where we serve breakfast, lunch and snacks.  Nutrition experts estimate that today, one in five children between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight.    We believe that we have an important role to play in helping to address these issues and in supporting healthy lifestyles in schools, at work and in the many locations we serve around the world.

National Nutrition Month provides us with a special opportunity to showcase our health and wellness programs and to make a real difference in people’s lives.   This year we are building on our health and wellness initiatives that focus on enabling, educating and encouraging healthier eating practices and more active lifestyles.   During National Nutrition Month 2012, we’re offering nutrition education and awareness programs to introduce our customers and communities to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new guide for healthy eating – MyPlate.   MyPlate is a picture of how most of us should try to eat for better health. The change from the food pyramid to MyPlate was made after consumer research showed that a picture of a healthy plate filled with the right balance of healthy foods was the clearest way to communicate the new dietary guidelines.

National Nutrition Month is also an opportunity for us to recognize our 750-plus dietitians, the food and nutrition experts who translate the science of nutrition into practical solutions for healthy living.   Our dietitians work every day in a number of areas to improve health and fight nutrition-related disease.   They support healthy recipe and menu development; they work to create meal programs to fit individual patient needs; they volunteer as community health educators, and they find ways to support healthier lifestyles.   As one of America’s largest employers of dietitians, we’re proud to be a partner of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly know as the American Dietetic Association), which sponsors National Nutrition Month.

Our dietitians and culinary experts are holding National Nutrition Month programs throughout the country to spread the word about the new MyPlate.   We’ll be leading education and awareness initiatives in elementary schools, colleges and universities, businesses, hospitals and neighborhood community centers as a way to support and encourage healthier lifestyles not only in March, but throughout the year.

About ARAMARK

ARAMARK is a world leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. ARAMARK’s Environmental Internship Program is part of the company’s corporate responsibility commitment. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement.
ARAMARK has been recognized as the industry leader in FORTUNE magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies," and as one of America's Largest Private Companies by both FORTUNE and Forbes magazines. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 250,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries.