Hello hello! As you all know, last Friday I went to the Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual meeting, joint sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health/WIC in Tucson, AZ. I left the house at about 5:45am and made it to Tucson by 7:15am, pretty good time. Registration went quickly and I got busy hanging up our social media posters.
@eatrightarizona (Twitter)
Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Facebook Page)
Arizona Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Linked In)
Then I quickly grabbed breakfast and headed into the opening session. Plain yogurt with fruit and granola, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries and banana walnut bread.
(I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach because I did not finish this!)
Session 1: Sustainable American Dinner Plate (Sponsored by the Arizona Beef Council)
Speaker: Mary Lee Chin, MS, RD
Her presentation was extremely interesting and presented another viewpoint concerning organic, natural, and GMO’s that I hadn’t heard before. She also discussed relating dietetics research to food trends.
Some interesting facts:
- Less than 1% of the population are farmers and 98% of food production is family owned (including those families that have incorporated)
- Local is defined on an individual basis (eg Walmart says local as long as its in the same state, Whole Foods policy is as long as travel time is within 7 hours to the distribution center or store)
- 85% of pasture land is unsuitable for agriculture farming
- 53% of the infants born this year are WIC eligible
- Americans waste about 40% of food each year, leading to landfills that are 23% food
- 250,000 children per year go blind do to lack of Vitamin A
Break
During the networking time I hung out with the Arizona Beef Council table, learning a bit about different cuts of beef and Arizona farms… an area of knowledge I definitely lack on.
Session 2: Building a Winning, Comprehensive, Compelling Online Presence
Speaker: Margie Geiser, MBA, RD, BCC (@megfit)
There were three breakout sessions to choose from, I heard the other ones were really good but I can only recap the one I went too! Margies career history from personal training to sports nutrition to business coaching was really inspiring and helpful. She gave some really great tips on establishing credibility, growing your list, creating tipsheets and what not to do. Margie’s biggest piece of advice? The most important aspect of a compelling online presence is community. I couldn’t agree more, I love the blogging community I’ve fallen into!
Break
During the next break I headed out for some free samples from the Sweetleaf company. They have a bunch of new flavors, but the best sample was the chocolate which they added to milk. It tasted EXACTLY like chocolate milk… delicious!
( Since the conference I’ve been spiking my coffee with the vanilla crème samples they gave out and loving it!)
Session 3: Panel: Experts Are In: 10 Ways to Boost Your Career with Social Media
Speakers: Michelle Dudash, RDN (@michelledudash), Christy Wilson (@ChristysChomp), RD & Melinda Johnson (@MelindaRD), MS, RD
I had a great time meeting these women and I look forward to working with them more on the Social Media committee for AZAND. Their stories of how social media really escalated their careers were absolutely mind blowing! They had a lot of great tips on how to get started using social media, what to post, and how to connect with others. I also learned a few new twitter hashtags that I hadn’t heard about before like #RDtobe (for current students) #RDChat and #RDBuildUp.
8 Ways Social Media Can Boost Your Career (They actually had 10 but I missed two!)
- Put You at the Top of Mind Awareness
- Help Build Relationships
- Provide Insider Access
- Create Opportunities
- Contacts
- Give Back to the Profession
- Access to Wisdom
- Participate in Public Policy
Session 4: Food Insecurity- How You Can Help (Sponsored by the Dairy Council of Arizona)
Speaker: Tab Forgac, MS, RDN, LDN, SNS (@tabforgac)
This session was ironically held over lunch, which was DELICIOUS! Chicken Salad with candied pecans, blue cheese, madarin oranges, and blueberries.
The presentation was extremely eye opening concerning the situation of food banks in the US. Did you know that less than 5% of food donated to food banks is milk? It is such a rare commodity that it is often referred to as liquid gold.
Awards
Head on over to our facebook page to see the award recipients!
Break
After taking more pictures for our facebook page, I headed outside to charge my phone in my car and check some work emails. I also started to get hungry so I ate a quest bar I found in my purse.
Session 5: Academy Scope of Practice for RDs and DTRs: A Tool for Determining Competence and Advancing Practice (Sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
Speaker: Marsha Stieber, MSA, RD, CNSC
During this presentation the SOP (Standards of Practice) and SOPP (Standards of Professional Performance) for DTRS and RDs/RDNs were reviewed including their importance, how to access them, and how to use them to evaluate your own performance. This quality management tool is a way to assess your current level of expertise and experience in your current specialty.
Session 6: How to Talk to Families about Weight and Health- Sponsored by the Arizona Department of Health Services/ WIC
Speaker: Jill Castle, MS, RD, LDN (@pediRD)
This presentation was extremely interesting for me and applied directly to my current position. Of particular interest was how parents respond to certain terms versus others. Talking to a parent or child about their weight will never be a comfortable subject for anyone. However, the importance of the matter can be addressed without hurting feelings or causing resentment. Just by changing the way you address the subject you might change the outcome of the whole intervention. She suggests using the growth chart, in particular the trends to help parents understand their child’s weight status. Have you seen your child’s growth charts? If not, you have a right to know and have a copy!
Some of her other tips for promoting healthy weight in children:
- 90/10 rule- 90% healthy food and 10% “fun” food per day. (I live and die by this rule.) She suggests letting the child chose their one fun food per day.
- Eat a plant with every meal.
- Provide Structure- 3 meals/2 snacks daily
- Close the Kitchen- when it isn’t meal time
- Weigh In- have the child be an active participant in their plan.
Session 7: C.L.I.M.B
Speaker: Dr. Glenna McCollum, MPH, RDN (@glennamccollum)
Dr. Glenna McCollum is a native Arizonian and just finished her term as the President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her presentation focused in on the importance of C.L.I.M.B among students, DTRs, and RD/RDNs.
Collaboration
Leadership
Innovation
Membership
Balance
Her point was that it is our responsibility to build each other up through collaboration, to become not just the experts but also the leaders in the nutrition field, to innovate, to belong to the Academy, and to find a balance in doing so.
Sponsors
- Dairy Council of Airozna
- Academy of Nutritiona nd Dietetics
- SweetLeaf
- Overeaters Anonymous
- TDnow.com
- Arizona State University
- Ajinomoto
- National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
- Arizona Pork Council
- Mirasol Recovery Centers
- Vegetarian Nutrition (DPG, AND)
- Hunger and Environmental Nutrition (DPG, AND)
- Arizona Beef Council
- Mead Johnson Nutrition
- Nutrition Alliance LLC
- Central Arizona College
There was a reception afterward for Glenna McCollum, however I had to jet home to feed Missy! Not without stopping at the best restaurant in Tucson first…
Beyond Bread’s Rex’s Revenge, I can’t believe my roommate and I used to down the whole sandwich plus chips in college! Crazy times, the guy gave me a bag filled with ice so I could save my half and bring another sandwich back for Mr. Hungry.
I’m finally meeting Arizona RDs and getting know more people since returning back from California. I can’t wait to get more involved in AZAND and meet more amazing Arizona RDs/RDNs! Hope you have a great Monday!
[…] That was pretty much it from the week, you can see my eats from last Friday at the AZAND Annual Meeting here. […]