Healthy Holiday Weight Webinar; 'Tis the Season for Eating Right

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) hosted its first Health Promotion and Wellness webinar, Oct. 17.

The webinar, titled "The Holidays-Obstacles and Opportunities for Weight Maintenance," is one of several NMCPHC events intended to ring-in the upcoming holiday season on a healthy note.

NMCPHC's Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW) Department teamed up to provide ideas and resources designed to assist service members and their families maintain a healthy weight over the holidays.

The nearly 40 participants that took part in the webinar were primarily members of the health promotion and wellness community from various branches of the Department of Defense (DoD). They will be disseminating the information obtained through the webinar to their target audience throughout the holiday season.

Cmdr. Connie Scott, registered dietitian and NMCPHC HPW department head, was pleased with the level of participation and feedback received via post-webinar critiques.

"Participants communicated an appreciation for the ready-to-use products, tools and resources to augment their current health promotion program efforts at their respective commands," said Scott.

Nutrition is a key component of Navy Medicine's recently launched health promotion and wellness campaign that is closely aligned to the DoD's Operation Live Well campaign, the National Prevention Strategy and directly supports the CNO's 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative.

According to, Lt. Dawn Whiting, (HPW assistant department head) maintaining a healthy weight can be a real challenge during the holiday season.

"As mentioned during the webinar, the average weight gained during the holiday season is five to seven pounds. That can cause a lot of stress by the end of the holiday season," said Whiting. "Our goal is to empower people to make healthier choices to avoid some of the common pitfalls but still enjoy the holidays."
Not only is maintaining a healthy weight important for an individual's general wellbeing, it also factors into mission readiness.

"A warfighter that is physically fit and properly fueled is better suited to meet the demands of an ever-changing operational environment," said Whiting.
The webinar offered tips and resources currently available in the Healthy Living section of NMCPHC's website including fact sheets and Power Point presentations.

NMCPHC is part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health care network of 63,000 Navy medical personnel around the world who provide high-quality health care to more than one million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ship, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.

For more news from Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, visit www.navy.mil/local/nmcphc/.