Ralphs, Food 4 Less to Hold Doctor Shopalongs

Ralphs and Food 4 Less, grocery banners of The Kroger Co., have teamed with St. Joseph Hoag Health,  a health care network serving California's Orange County, to develop Shop with Your Doc events to help shoppers make more health-conscious food purchases.

During the events, shoppers can tour the store with physicians, registered dietitians and other St. Joseph Hoag Health experts, and ask questions — about ingredients, labels, vitamins, food groups or how to get children to eat their vegetables, for example. St. Joseph Hoag Health nurses and physician assistants will also offer free blood pressure checks and educate shoppers about how picking the right foods can protect their health.

Orange County, like much of the nation, has a rising obesity problem, with about 21 percent of area teens and 60 percent of area adults overweight or obese, the Orange County Health Care Agency reports. And the longer people live with obesity, the more they are at risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

"Unhealthy eating is one of the biggest contributors to obesity, but people don't always know what foods are better for them," said Amy Alias, an internal medicine physician with St. Jude Heritage Medical Group in Fullerton, part of the St. Joseph Hoag Health network of care. "We care deeply about our neighbors, and an event like Shop with Your Doc allows us to spread the word outside of the doctor's office about the health benefits of good nutrition and the kinds of foods that are part of a healthier lifestyle."

Shop with Your Doc already took place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 20 at Food 4 Less, 315 E. First St., Santa Ana, and will continue to take place at the same time on:

• Oct. 24, at Ralphs, 2555 Eastbluff Dr., Newport Beach
• Oct. 28, at Ralphs, Hillcrest Park Center, 1121 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton
• Nov. 9, at Ralphs, 19081 Goldenwest St., Huntington Beach
• Nov. 12, at Ralphs, 26751 Portola Parkway, Foothill Ranch
• Nov. 14, at Food 4 Less, 1616 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim
• Nov. 16, at Food 4 Less, 914 W. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton
• Nov. 28, at Ralphs, 17605 Harvard Ave., Irvine

Both based in Compton, Calif., Ralphs Grocery Co. operates 207 supermarkets in Southern California and Food 4 Less operates 131 price-impact warehouse-format supermarkets under the Food 4 Less banner in Southern California, Illinois and Indiana, and the Foods Co name in Central and Northern California.