Navy registered dietitians gathered from around the fleet for a workshop held in Millington, Tenn. to receive training on Navy nutrition policy, program updates and best practices for program improvements, Aug. 20-21.

This is the first time a workshop like this has been held, and it provided the group of twenty-five uniformed and civilian Navy registered dietitians an opportunity to meet and share information about their efforts throughout the fleet.

“It was a great venue for the civilian dietitians to share their programs including Go for Green, Naval Operational Fuel Fitness System, and Mission Nutrition resources with the BUMED [Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery] clinicians,” said Jennifer Person-Whippo, the registered dietitian assigned to Naval Supply Systems Command.

Topics of discussion included the Navy Nutrition Program's past, current and future initiatives, as well as instruction updates.  It also provided an opportunity for attendees to share their best practices and to examine trends.

"For the past year, myself and many of the Navy dietitians have been looking at how to grow our profession and prove our worth to the Fleet,” said Lt. Lorna Brown, a registered dietitian assigned to US Naval Hospital Sigonella. “This symposium allowed the majority of the active duty dietitians to come together, to forge a plan to capture the data from the fleet’s requests in response to the release of NAVADMIN 160/18, announcing the Navy Registered Dietitian Support to Operational Forces.  As dietitians, we are a key component to readiness and ready to serve our shipmates."

The Navy Nutrition Program, which is part of the Navy Physical Readiness Program, is working to align with the Secretary of the Navy’s direction to increase Sailor awareness of nutrition and transform Navy's culture of focus on disease treatment to one of health promotion and disease prevention and control. Navy registered dietitians play a vital role supporting Sailors by providing nutrition education and access to resources on performance nutrition, healthy eating habits, hydration, and safe dietary supplement use.

The Navy Physical Readiness Program is a branch of the 21st Century Sailor Office, which integrates the Navy's objectives for equal opportunity, Sailor personal and family readiness, physical readiness, alcohol and substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, sexual harassment prevention, sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR), hazing prevention and transition assistance. 

To learn more about nutrition education resources available to you, visit www.nutrition.navy.mil  

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