Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton was one of ten companies receiving awards at NJBIA’s 2007 Awards for Excellence Dinner held at the Pines Manor in Edison on October 16.
“It always gives us great pleasure to recognize the outstanding achievements of our member companies. Each of our winners has a wonderful story that deserves to be told,” said NJBIA President Philip Kirschner.
As the adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. At the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton Township, prevention is put into practice. Responding to a national epidemic of childhood obesity, Robert Wood Johnson kicked off its “Shapedown” program to identify at-risk kids and help them change their lifestyles to prevent future health problems.
The hospital staff screened 1,950 Mercer County children in a two-year period, well above the original goal of 1,200. They identified approximately one-third of those screened to be at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, a disease frequently associated with obesity.
For those willing to participate, the hospital’s “Shapedown” program offers children between 8- and 13-years-old and their families 10 weeks of education and counseling on nutrition, physical education and health. The program is staffed by doctors, registered nurses, registered dieticians and personal trainers. Participants benefit from diabetes education, weekly nutrition lessons complete with healthy recipes, and private family counseling. Families learn how to calculate their energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate needs, as well as how to plan menus and shop for food.
The program has been tremendously successful. Today, there is a waiting list of 53 families for Shapedown’s 10-week counseling program. That’s in addition to the educational sessions that have reached more than 4,200 children throughout Mercer County.
Since 1984, NJBIA annually has honored a select group of its members with its Awards for Excellence. The Awards for Excellence winners demonstrate outstanding achievements in one of four categories: Job Creation, Outstanding Employer, Environmental Quality and Public Service. All 23,000 member companies in good standing are eligible to be nominated.
An independent panel of judges, who volunteer their time to conduct the judging, reviewed the nominations. This year’s judging panel included individuals from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the NJBIA policy committees.
Mercadien P.C. Certified Public Accountants of Princeton verified the information supplied by the winning applicants.
With more than 23,000 members, NJBIA is the nation’s largest State-level employer association.
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