Introduction

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JRC's Nutrition Initiative

JRC's nutrition initiative was originally stimulated by Michael Anderson, author of the film, Eating. In late 2001, Mr. Anderson began to bring information and books in the field of nutrition to the attention of JRC's executive director, Dr. Matthew Israel. Dr. Israel began applying this information to his own life and then began offering the same information to the JRC staff members and students.

Wellness Benefit for JRC Staff Members

The Judge Rotenberg Center now offers a unique wellness benefit for all of its employees. We are interested in helping our staff to avoid developing chronic illnesses and to enjoy a long and healthy life. Scientific studies show that the major chronic illnesses in America (heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis) are all related to our diet. Therefore, if any staff member wishes to avoid these problems and/or to cope with them as successfully as possible when and if one of these problems strikes, it would be wise to consider seriously adopting as healthy as possible a diet and lifestyle.

Our wellness benefit currently centers on nutrition education. The objectives of this program are to teach staff members how nutrition affects their health, how to eat in a nutritious way and how to prepare nutritious meals.

One component of this training is a series of videotapes by nutrition experts, which are currently being viewed by groups of JRC staff members who work at our main school buildings, as well as by a group of residential coordinators. Other groups of staff members will be added to this list as time goes on. On some occasions, the group watching the videos have had a chance to discuss the videos with Michael Anderson through a teleconferencing hookup.

The video tapes we have used so far include films by Michael Anderson, John Robbins, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Neal Barnard, Howard Lyman, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Neal Pinckney, Dr. Michael Klaper, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. William Harris. Anyone who watches each of these videos will receive an education in nutrition far greater (by many times) than the typical physician receives in medical school.

From time to time, we invite leading figures in nutrition to come to JRC and to give lectures to our staff and students. Our speakers so far have included Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Howard Zarren, Dr. Demos, and Dr. Esselstyn.

We also have a voluntary nutrition reading group that meets every other week to share a healthy lunch, review selected readings and watch a portion of a video dealing with nutrition. This group shares thoughts and ideas regarding healthy lifestyles. Employees whose schedules do not permit them to attend these meetings may borrow copies of our nutrition videotapes from a nutrition library that we have created.

Another component involves materials that are available via our secure JRC staff site. This site is available to all current JRC employees. The site gives the users access to nutrition newsletters from such noted health professionals such as Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Joel Fuhrman. The JRC staff web site includes a list of the current videos being used for JRC's nutrition groups, a description of these videos, and a feature which allows current JRC staff members to watch some of these videos from any computer that has internet access.

In addition, our staff web site has a section for healthy and delicious recipes, links to various nutrition web sites, such as www.vegsource.com, www.beacondv.org, www.drmcdougall.com, www.drfuhrman.com, and www.vegparadise.com, to name a few. We teach and encourage our staff and students how to use these web sites to obtain health and nutrition information, to participate in discussion groups, etc.

Staff members are also encouraged to self-manage their eating habits to help reach a specific goal, whether it is to lose weight, lower cholesterol, or lower blood pressure. We want our staff to feel the best that they possibly can, so that they can enjoy a long and healthy life.

We have created a special "Nutrition Lounge" on the main floor of our 240 Turnpike Street building where staff members can relax while taking a break or eating their lunch. The lounge has a selection of nutrition books and newsletters that are available for loan. There is also a continuously running series of nutrition videos in this lounge, so that staff members can learn a little as they take their break or lunch, and a selection of fresh fruit for snacks. We are also considering developing a "nutrition ticker tape" for this lounge that will display recent articles on nutrition in ticker tape fashion.

It is our hope that our staff are able to take away something from the information that they are being given. While this is sure to touch each person differently, no one can possibly be the same after being exposed to this valuable information.

Planned Changes in Student Menus

Another objective of our nutrition initiative is to change the eating habits of our students in the direction of more healthier eating. A first step in this direction is nutrition education for our staff. That way, as changes are made in our student menus and foods, the staff will hopefully be knowledgeable and supportive of the changes.

As with our staff, our fist step is an educational program for our students that features the use of videos made by leading figures in contemporary nutrition research and practice. Our higher functioning students watch the same set of nutritional videos by the experts listed above.

In the Spring of 2003 we introduced an excellent and varied salad bar to our lunchroom as a step to encourage better eating habits. Some students are rewarded with "behavior points" for selecting and eating a large and varied salad as the first part of their meal.

Custom Software Under Development for the Presentation of Nutritional Videos

We are developing some custom software which will be used in the presentation of nutrition videos to both our staff and students. This software will present a few minutes of the film and then stop and ask the student questions based on the material presented in that section of the film. The student must answer these questions based on the material presented in that section of the film. The student must answer these questions correctly before advancing to view the next section of the film. Incorrectly answered questions are represented at a later point, and the student must answer each question correctly before advancing to the next section of the film.

As statements are made in the film, bibliographical citations, and links to web pages containing related or supporting information, may be contemporaneously displayed in separate windows. The film stops when these links appear, allowing the student to explore the links at his/her leisure.

The first nutritional video that will be presented in this way will be Michael Anderson's Eating. We will be seeking the cooperation of the other authors of the nutritional videos that we are using to do the same thing with their videos, or to cooperate with us in making a new video especially for this purpose.

For more information, please contact Erin Holland at ext. 2206 or by emailing her at e.holland@judgerc.org.