Pediatrician Kofi Essel on Culinary Medicine

About This Episode

Washington, DC pediatrician Kofi Essel is committed to giving families the tools they need to thrive. In his work at Children’s Health Center Anacostia and The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Science, Essel practices “culinary medicine,” which merges the art of cooking with the science of medicine. “Nutrition is recognized as one of the most powerful tools to transform the health of populations,” he says. Lack of access to nutritious foods can have serious consequences for children and families. “Food insecurity is invisible - you cannot consistently rely on any clinical signs, laboratory changes, or anthropometric changes to be able to determine if a family is experiencing food insecurity. … When you address the food, it increases cognitive bandwidth and it increases [a family’s] ability to focus on other things.”