CHC is proud to announce that Paula Leibovitz, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator working with our Obesity Intervention programs in New Britain and Meriden, was recently elected to serve on the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. With over 70,000 members, the Academy is the largest organization of nutrition professionals in the world. Paula who developed the FoodSmart and Fit™ program has been working with programs at CHC for 6 years. Paula remembers one of her participants saying, “FoodSmart and Fit put me on the path to wellness. Rather than thinking about dieting, I learned to at smarter ways of staying fit.” Seeing and hearing the success of participants in the program is so gratifying.

When asked about her recent election, Paula said, “I’m greatly honored to serve on credentialing arm, CDR, of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. My fellow dietitians play an important role in battling the growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in our country. A critical role of CDR is to protect the public through credentialing and assessment to assure the competence of Registered Dietitians (RD) and Dietetic Technicians, Registered, (DTR). I look forward to serving on CDR to support this mission and to continue to evaluate and expand the credentialing process. It is imperative that the public have access to the most qualified nutritional professionals, i.e. RDs and DTRS. making sure that those registered by the Academy meet the highest standards as our knowledge of best practices in addressing these issues continues to grow.