by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
HealthPartners Clinic in Sartell is going to send a message – a good message – from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9.
At that time, the clinic will give away free vegetables to anyone who would like some. They will be given to residents who come to the clinic during those hours, as long as the supply lasts. A person need not be a client of HealthPartners to accept its gift of vegetables. It’s open to anybody in the Sartell-St. Stephen, Sauk Rapids-Rice and St. Cloud metro area.
The “message” that HealthPartners wants to send is this: Healthy behaviors play a bigger role in improving and maintaining one’s health than medical care. Long story short, good nutrition and exercise are the building blocks of health, and eating plenty of fresh vegetables often is one of the best ways to ensure good nutrition.
Studies have shown children raised in areas where fresh vegetables are not readily available tend to eat more “junk” fast foods and thus tend to be obese and less healthy than their peers in other areas. Eating and exercise patterns are learned in childhood, and that is why many nutritional experts are finding ways to make fresh vegetables more accessible by people in all areas of the nation.
HealthPartners is located at 2251 Connecticut Ave. S. in Sartell’s Medical Campus area.
HealthPartners Central Minnesota Clinic is part of HealthPartners, the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health-care organization in the nation. The local clinic has been in the St. Cloud area since 1979 with family practice, ob-gyn, behavioral health, chiropractic, surgical and dental services.
Fresh veggies are one of the major keys to developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle via good daily nutrition.
