Angie Wilks-Tate
Angie Wilks-Tate credits her mom’s husband for nudging her in the direction of becoming a dietitian.
“My parents moved from Kosciusko, Mississippi to Milwaukee when I was a baby. When I was three years old, my father passed away. My mother remarried and my dad who I affectionately call “Pop”, suggested that I consider a career in nutrition because he had met an African American woman who was a Public Health Nutritionist. I had always been physically active and loved helping people do things to live healthier lives, so it seemed like a good way for me to merge healthy eating with physical activity.
“Even as a young adult, I enjoyed teaching people. I also was involved with organizations that interacted with young people. Practicing healthy habits, being active and taking care of our bodies was interesting to me. I remember that in high school, we completed a self-assessment survey to help us determine our career interests and my result was focused on compassionate care. From that point on, health and nutrition became my focus. I volunteered at a nursing home in dietary and later became employed as a dietary assistant. That’s what cemented my decision to become a dietitian,” said Wilks-Tate.
After graduating from Milwaukee Lutheran High School, she attended Mt. Mary University, earning a bachelor’s degree in dietetics. She later attended Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago, where she received a master’s degree in nutrition education.
Today, Wilks-Tate is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist( RDN) and Women Infants and Children (WIC) Project Director, with Milwaukee Health Services, Inc. (MHSI), a position she has held for almost 16 years.
“This has been such a rewarding career for me. I have an opportunity to interact with young mothers. I have a chance to develop positive relationships with my clients who receive WIC assistance. WIC is an excellent program which is designed to help people in their time of need. We are in a position to help educate our families on how to best use their food resources and help them set positive goals for themselves and their young children in terms of leading healthier lives,” she said.
Wilks-Tate is also one of the co-founders of the African American Breastfeeding Network (AABN), along with Dalvery Blackwell.
“The cornerstone of WIC is to promote breast feeding as the first food that a baby receives. We help moms make informed decisions about breast-feeding, but we don’t coerce them into doing it. We have breast-feeding peer counseling in most of our WIC sites who connect with our moms before and after delivery. We promote breast-feeding as the original natural first food. WIC is a safety net to help mothers who for whatever reason, choose not breast-feed their infants but need to purchase a substitute such as formula. We are always careful to let our mothers know that we support them no matter what their feeding decision,” said Wilks-Tate.
Wilks-Tate has almost 30 years of experience in the healthcare field. Prior to accepting employment with MHSI, she worked in various roles which included clinical and community nutrition. She stepped out of the dietetics profession for almost five years and opened an in-home daycare in order to stay home with her children. As her children got older, she returned to work part time with WIC.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work in other settings, but community nutrition is my passion. I’m directly involved with people that I am privileged to follow up with and see the growth and progress within their families. That’s rewarding to me. In the WIC program, for instance, we teach mothers about breastfeeding, nutrition and physical activity. I had the opportunity to also launch a community-based nutrition program for Milwaukee Health Services, Inc. which is called “ Healthy Connections.” It focuses on families and promoting healthy lifestyles. We are in the position to educate them about the importance of not only eating healthy, but exercising as a path to healthier living. It’s important that parents understand that they are role models for their children; the children take their cues from their parents. They pattern their lifestyle and eating habits after their parents,” she said.
Wilks-Tate said that she is beginning to see more positive and favorable health and nutrition trends among young parents.
“There are several positive trends related to healthy eating that I’m noticing—especially since we now offer fresh fruits and vegetables. With more variety, I’m seeing interest among moms to set goals to integrate healthy eating into their lives. They are asking for more information about food preparation, getting the kids involved in physical activities and engaging in those activities with them. All these things point to a positive trend toward leading healthier lives,” said Wilks-Tate.
Periodically, WIC sites conduct surveys of its recipients to determine what kinds of information and resources they want.
“Families are asking for more interaction and access to information such as cooking, recipes and ways to make it easier for them to access helpful resources. They want things to simplify their lives. We are working on identifying more ways to address this. It’s on the horizon,” said Wilks-Tate.
One resource that’s already available to families is an online interactive WIC nutrition education website.
“Parents can interact with other parents, provide helpful tips and set goals for themselves online. This site also provides a way for busy moms not to physically come to the WIC clinic. Sometimes transportation can be a barrier. As an alternative to seeing a nutritionist, WIC recipients can access information online, complete a nutrition education session and we can assist them by phone with any questions they may have and upload their food benefits electronically. It’s interactive, easy and helps simplify their lives,” said Wilks-Tate.
Wilks-Tate has been married to her husband, Craig Tate, for 23 years. They have two children together, Ciara, 20, and Jalen, 15. She also has two ‘bonus’ children Jordan, 27, and Jennessa, 28 years old.
Holidays in the Wilks-Tate household sometimes comes with jokes, since she is a nutritionist. Wilks-Tate said that family members have asked if they are having chocolate covered broccoli for dessert.
“I do try to practice what I preach. I will incorporate more plant based meals into weekly menus and try non-traditional foods such as quinoa, amaranth, or couscous. I also like to experiment with new things that other people might not be comfortable preparing. Growing up, my children always expected that we were going to have fruits and vegetables at lunch and dinner” she said.
Thanks to Wilks-Tates’ passion and compassion to help others, more Milwaukee children and families have been positively encouraged to eat better and live healthier lives.
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