<p>Two hospitals in New York have started giving out prescriptions for fruits and vegetables to overweight patients.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx) will essentially provide coupons for fresh produce which can be redeemed at farmers markets throughout the city.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based nonprofit, designed the four-month pilot program to help underprivileged overweight and obese children who are at risk of developing diet-related diseases.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">It is currently being implemented at Lincoln Medical Centre in the Bronx and Harlem Hospital in Manhattan - two areas at high risk for poor youth nutrition, according to New York Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, as reported by CBC.ca. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>"This is probably going to prevent an awful lot of disease in the long term than the medicines we tend to write prescriptions for," he told reporters, noting that one in 10 New Yorkers don't eat any fruits or vegetables on a given day. In the Bronx, that number shoots up to five in 10.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>In a 2010 feasibility study of 246 people, the program was shown to have had a significant impact on shopping and eating habits, as well as knowledge about the importance of fruits and vegetables. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>"A food environment full of processed foods full of fat, sugar and salt is contributing to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and other chronic diseases," Farley said. "The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription program is a creative approach that will enable at-risk patients to visit any of our 142 Farmers Markets and purchase the fruits and vegetables that will help them stay healthy." </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>To date, 140 patients have enrolled in the new program.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/07/doctors-prescribe-fruit-vegetables-to-obese-patients-in-nyc.html" target="_new"> Produce Prescription Report</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
