Ruth is a trainee at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Ruth was a funded MCH Nutrition Leadership, Education and Training Program trainee from January 2017 until December 2017 and is currently completing her dietetic internship.
Live at 5 at 4: Promoting MCH Nutrition Events on Local Media
Each semester at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, we plan and host the Promoting Healthy Weight Colloquium. Each colloquium focuses on various topics relating to the promotion of healthy weight among the maternal and child health population. Past colloquia have addressed maternal obesity, infant feeding, early childhood, children with special healthcare needs, hunger and food insecurity, and most recently novel interventions with children and youth.
When putting on this event for 900+ participants (including onsite and webcast participants), there are many tasks that must be completed by the MCH Nutrition Leadership Team. Typically, one trainee is in charge of the colloquium for that semester and delegates various tasks to the whole leadership team. This past fall, I was given the task of promoting the colloquium on our local news station, WBIR. For many years, the Department of Nutrition at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville has had a great relationship with WBIR, consisting of guest appearances by some faculty members to talk about nutrition. This relationship allows us to showcase the colloquium on a segment entitle “Live at 5 at 4.”
I don’t know about you, but until this experience, I had never even been on a local news set! This was definitely an eye-opening and entertaining experience. As future leaders within the field of nutrition, it is important for us to learn how to interact in front of a camera. What better way to learn then to jump right in! When I first got on set at WBIR, I remember thinking that there were so many monitors and lights in front of me. I even asked, “where do I look?” I was completely clueless. Being on “Live on 5 at 4” gave me the chance to practice my communication skills in front of a camera, and it was so fun! There’s still plenty of growing room as I continue to learn how to appropriately interact with the media, but this interaction definitely helped me grow in my confidence and abilities!
Interacting with local media in a positive way is so useful to promote events or nutrition tips. It’s important for us to advocate for the field of nutrition, and sometimes that might mean being in the public eye.
Check out this clip to see what the set looks like from behind the scenes!
-Ruth Zegel, MCH Nutrition Trainee, University of Tennessee
MCH Nutrition Trainee Hub 
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