Choosing nutritious foods can make a real difference in your health.

For National Nutrition Month, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Tanner Health System’s Get Healthy, Live Well are encouraging people to make informed food choices and develop sound eating habits.

This year’s theme, “Eat Right, Bite by Bite,” promotes eating a variety of nutritious foods every day, planning healthful meals each week and the value of consulting a registered dietitian.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there, which is why the role of a dietitian is so important,” said Claudia Weekes, MS, RD, LD, a registered and licensed dietitian at Get Healthy, Live Well. “We help to dispel a lot of the myths and provide one-on-one nutrition education to help our patients find the right balance of calories and nutrients to help them feel their best.”

Dietitians provide recipe ideas, cooking tips and other healthful advice for everyday issues such as cooking dinner or meal preparation for picky eaters. They also provide medical nutrition therapy to help clients set nutrition goals to improve their health.

Medical nutrition therapy provided by a dietitian includes reviewing the client’s medical history, laboratory values, eating habits and lifestyle, assessing their nutritional status and creating a personalized nutrition treatment plan.

Many medical plans cover the costs of seeing a registered dietitian. To learn more about Tanner’s nutrition services or to learn about current and future nutrition classes, call 770-812-5954 or email gethealthy@tanner.org.

Get Healthy, Live Well also offers several free classes, which include lessons on healthy eating. These classes include Carb Counting, Diabetes 101, the Diabetes Prevention Program and Get Healthy Kids.

Visit tanner.org/classes-and-events to sign up for a class today.

For more educational resources on healthy eating, visit tanner.org/healthyeating.