Alice Brock-Utne is a pediatrician at John Muir Hospital in California who serves on the Executive Committee on Environmental Health for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and is involved with disseminating Healthy Food in Health Care's environmental health educational materials, Food Matters, within her community. Dr. Brock-Utne also gave her extensive environmental health expertise from her years of involvement with Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU)to help San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility update its Pediatric Toolkit. Healthy Food in Health Care caught up with her to talk about her environmental health advocacy efforts.   

Q. Could you describe your advocacy efforts surrounding environmental health and food?

A. In my role as a pediatrician, I was encountering obesity and nutrition-related illnesses every day, so I became interested in how food affects children, and at a larger community level, how to improve the health of the kids. I've worked with a community grassroots organization called Viviendo Verde Ya to improve the educational capacity of the local Promotores [community health leaders], and to support them in their environmental health advocacy efforts in their community.  I'm now coordinating an effort to make [Healthy Food in Health Care's] Food Matters materials community health worker friendly - one of Viviendo Verde Ya Promotores has done a Spanish translation. Also, a local Spanish radio show, Nuestros Niños, is working with me to make a short educational video based on the Food Matters materials.

Q. When and how did your interest in environmental health begin?

A. My interest in environmental health stems from an interest in justice.  As a pediatric resident at San Francisco General Hospital, I participated in a program called Pediatric Leadership for the Underserved.  While working with the Bayview Hunters Point community, it became clear that environmental problems don't affect everyone equally. I felt as a physician, I had a responsibility and an ability to be an advocate for healthier environments for children. 

Q. How do you find time to advocate for environmental health in your busy schedule?

A. I don't always.  It's hard.  How do I find time?  I would say that I've always tried to do things that I've believed in and that I'm interested in. It is a tricky balance between clinical work and environmental work. But, I do believe my responsibility to my patients extends to a responsibility to the communities in which they live.

Q. Any recommendations on how other clinicians can become more involved in environmental advocacy? 

A. I would recommend that they get involved with their local chapter of their professional organization.  I would also recommend looking for community organizations working on issues they're interested in. Look for ways to serve the community that will provide solutions to the problems they face.  Physicians diagnose problems and plan treatments all the time. If physicians apply the same assessment and plan approach to community advocacy, they will find amazing opportunities to help.

The Healthy Food in Health Care Program is a national initiative of Health Care Without Harm, which works with hospitals across the country to help improve the health and sustainability of their food services.  For more information about the Healthy Food in Health Care Program, and to access a variety of tools and resources, visit  http://www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org/.