PAONIA, Colo. — A new program is starting this week to fight one of Colorado’s biggest health threat: obesity.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, one in five adults in the state are obese, and one out of every seven children are. Susan Motika is with the CDPHE, and she's been working on the new project for the past year and a half.
"The Healthy Hospital Compact in Colorado is an effort by hospitals, public health, and community partners such as Live Well Colorado and Kaiser Permanente," says Motika, "to really look at the hospital environment and say 'What can be done to on a voluntary basis to improve food and beverage environments?'"
The CDPHE is basically trying to get hospitals to change the food and drink they offer.
"Hospitals might introduce a healthier meal option, they could eliminate deep fat fryers, they could eliminate trans fat, they could reduce sugar sweetened beverage offerings," says Motika.
It’s reminiscent of smoking, when the hospitals instituted smoke free zones.