021: Democratizing Health and Nutrition with Shreela Sharma Ph.D.

Essential Ingredients Podcast

English - May 30, 2023 09:00 - 33 minutes - 27.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 127 ratings
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Previous Episode: 020: Agtech and the Food System: A New Era of Innovation with Aaron Magenheim

Next Episode: 022: Unlocking The Secret to the Best Tasting Dishes with Max La Manna

"We need to think about health, not just health care." — Shreela Sharma Ph.D.

We are currently living in one of the most prosperous times in human history. The problem is that many people are still not having access to enough high-quality food or even the right education about it.

But if we were to look at nutrition as something that is a lot more accessible than we think in terms of both quality and quantity, then it could be possible for us to make huge changes in the world of nutrition.

This is the vision of Brighter Bites, an organization founded by two inspirational women leaders: Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma. Their mission is to bring better nutrition into the lives of everyone—not just those who could afford it or had time on their hands to cook healthy meals. They believe that if every household has access to fresh, nutritious foods, we can not only change the food system in general, but also raise the next generation to be more aware of how their food choices create an impact on them and the future of the food system.

Listen in as Dr. Shreela Sharma walks us through the processes of their organization and how they were able to build efficient processes to turn their ideas into executable steps. Justine and Dr. Sharma also discuss how bringing fresh foods to schools can help children learn the language of nutrition, why thinking health over healthcare can benefit us more in the long run, and Dr. Sharma's advice to help business leaders build trust among their team and identify their strengths as leaders.

Meet Shreela:

Dr. Shreela Sharma is the co-founder of Brighter Bites. Dr. Sharma is responsible for operationalizing the Brighter Bites formula. She developed the research infrastructure for the program and continues to ensure rigorous replication of Brighter Bites across all of the sites in Houston, Dallas, Austin, New York, Washington, D.C., and Southwest Florida.

Dr. Sharma is Professor of Epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health and a trained dietitian and physical therapist. As a health professional, she strongly felt she was treating preventable diseases stemming from poor lifestyles: heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. She saw the repercussions were devastating the community. Her love for teaching, academics, and the community led her to purse a PhD in epidemiology with a minor in biostatistics, health promotion and behavioral sciences. Her interest is in nutrition and physical activity-based interventions to address obesity via school, family, and community-based approaches. In addition to her significant contribution to building the Brighter Bites model and overseeing its expansion, Dr. Sharma serves on the Mayor of Houston’s Go Healthy Houston Task Force.

In addition to Brighter Bites, Dr. Sharma’s research portfolio includes her leadership in: the ongoing ENRICH study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to pilot test a home visitation program to improve parenting behaviors for healthy weight management of overweight and obese toddlers; the Healthy Eating/Active Living (HE/AL) designed to promote healthy birth outcomes and prevent maternal and childhood obesity among low-income Medicaid patients using evidence-based strategies including Brighter Bites; and evaluation of the BUILD collective impact model to create healthy food systems in the North Pasadena community in Houston. Additionally, Dr. Sharma was the lead investigator in the development and evaluation of the CATCH Early Childhood program to improve opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity in three to five-year-old children attending preschool.

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Episode Highlights:

00:53 Bringing Healthy Foods to Kids