Eat More Chickpeas! Ad Campaign for healthier hospital foods

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A non-profit committee made up of 12,000 physicians, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), is asking hospitals to re-consider fast food chains and set an example with healthier food options within hospital’s facilities.

The movement is a play on Chick-fil-A signs that ask consumers to “Eat more chicken”, but physicians hold signs asking consumers to “Eat more chickpeas”.

In a recent article, Angie Eakin, MD, one of the doctors on the ads explains, “Many of the hospitals that host Chick-fil-A are in states with high rates of diet-related diseases, making hospitals part of the overall toxic food environment. Hospitals should be fast-food-free, and patients should eat more chickpeas, vegetables, fruits, and other foods that can promote healing and prevent disease.”

Doctors as part of the PCRM do not want the anti-fast-food messages to attack anyone, explained one of the physicians in the recent article, but they do want hospitals to set an example for healthy food environments.

Some hospitals, like Stony Brook Hospital in New York, have already been promoting healthier foods, taking out fried foods, removing full-calorie sodas and marketing healthier options.

Many other hospitals and health clinics across the country have also made similar changes and some have even promoted fresh farm produce in meals.

But still more hospitals like Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina that offer low-calorie meals and promote well-being are home to fast-food franchises and still offer high-calorie meals, where this messaging could confuse the community, patients and staff , explained Stephen Neabore, MD and a physician with the committee.

Latino kids health is more at risk and depends largely on their food environments. Studies show that schools, hospitals, local stores and areas of the community should offer and promote fresh fruits and vegetables to help keep messaging focused on healthier items and make the healthier choice the easier choice.

“We want the hospitals to set an example for people and say, you’re coming here and this is the food that we’re giving you because it’s been shown to be the healthiest food you can eat.’ So then when people leave the hospital and go home they’re like ‘oh I ate great in the hospital. I felt so much better. Let me try and eat that same way at home,'” Neabore said.

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