No more lollipops at this Olympia doctor's office



OLYMPIA, Wash.-- "I want to try one tiny bite to see if I like it," says the 3-year-old patient who is trying out the garden at his doctor's office.

Olympia Pediatrics installed a small garden to honor a retiring pediatrician. It now boasts several raised beds bearing fruit and vegetables. The intrepid toddler tries a raspberry, fresh off the cane.

"You like it?" his mother asks.

"Good," he says as he scurries off to another raised bed.

That is exactly the goal of this small garden in the Capitol City, where roughly 23% of kids are considered obese by federal guidelines. One of the doctors here at Olympia Pediatrics says it nearly exactly mirrors the average of the whole of Washington state.

The Evergreen State is 36th in the nation in childhood obesity, something this group of doctors is trying to help improve in Thurston County. And perhaps our state someday will come in dead last in childhood obesity.

"The goal is to have the kids come in (and)  learn about nutrition during at their checkups," says Dr. Amy Belko, "and then come out here and learn about the fruits and vegetables at home."

Belko thinks about half the kids she sees have no idea where their food comes from.

"It's very alarming, yes, especially when they think meat comes from a package like luncheon meat. Not the actual animal that it comes from."

Belko is most surprised at the interest level in their older patients.

"I think it's a great idea," says Adria Klotz, who will be a freshman in high school in the fall. "Kids can come and taste fresh fruits and vegetables."

Today, this 14-year-old is trying out the raspberries. "They taste sweeter than raspberries in the store."

For the grad student studying to be a nutritionist, she calls moments like these a win.

"If kids know where food comes from, they’re a lot likely to make healthier choices," says Hannah Tripp, who use to be a receptionist in this office while she worked at her undergraduate degree. This garden was part of her final project.

As she's heading off to the University of Maine this fall, she's happy to see this project successful and growing.

"Nowadays gardening has become obsolete for a lot of people," she says, "so getting them involved boosts nutrition."

Now that this garden is in place, they're pairing it with a monthly blog going out to parents with recipes and ways to incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables into family meals. And these doctors will be tracking the Body Mass Index (BMI) and their overall obesity rate to see if the numbers improve over time with healthier eating habits.