School meals

It's been announced that all children under 6 will receive free school meals in a bid to educate children on healthy eating and provide a hot meal to more children. Sounds great but I have some issues with the idea.

Firstly, it's going to be a very expensive idea. Whilst I would never deny a child a free meal, are there not more important things to do which might tackle obesity. What about all the schools that no longer have kitchens? Will they have to build them or ship in food from somewhere that's been reheated and lost it's nutritional value and tastes disgusting?

Secondly, the variation in quality of school meals needs to be tackled. Some schools have fantastic meals, others are awful. More emphasis needs to be put on the quality of food and sourcing local produce. Children can then learn where their food has come from and how it is cooked. Jamie Oliver has done a fantastic job of highlighting the nutritional quality of school meals. Unfortunately, not enough has been done following on from this. 

For children to learn about healthy eating, school meals need to change drastically. Menus are full of stodgy high carbohydrate meals. Although children need some carbohydrate, the amount on menus is sky high. The fact they have fruit and vegetables/salad available means nothing when you look at the dessert options. Children need high fat nutritious food not high sugar junk which will create a lifetime of sugar addiction.

I honestly can't see this scheme making any difference to childhood obesity and it certainly doesn't educate kids on healthy eating because school meals are not healthy! For this to have any impact, school menus need to change to serve real food in it's real state closest to nature not something that's highly processed with no nutritional value. 

What do you think to the idea? Do your children have school meals? I would love to hear your thoughts. You can email me on info@wisechoicenutrition.co.uk. Don't forget to visit the website www.wisechoicenutrition.co.uk

Hannah

Hannah on Radio Sheffield

This week I have had the privilege of being on Radio Sheffield twice in 3 days talking about different aspects of nutrition. On Monday, I was on Paulette Edwards' show as an expert nutritionist. I then got called in to Rony's show on Wednesday morning to give my comments on the new traffic light labelling system.

I love being on radio and have decided I want my own nutrition show. For now though, I'll be on Paulette's show once a month talking about the latest nutrition news and answering your questions. There were some great stories coming in. One that particularly stood out was a man who lost 7 stone by cutting out beer, bread and butter. Whilst I recommended he put butter back in but spread thinly, that's a fantastic achievement!

We focussed a lot on retraining your brain and what that means. I argue that it isn't just the food we eat but our attitude towards it. food should be seen as fuel for our body but also more than that. There is the social enjoyment and the fulfilment of eating good quality food you enjoy. You wouldn't put substandard fuel in the car yet we quite happily fill our bodies up and expect them to work.They won't! We need to view food and our relationship with it as a much more important part of life.

I also went on Rony's show to talk about the new food labelling system coming into force. I'll blog more about that in a separate post but personally, I can't see it working. It comes back to the point I make above, our attitudes need to change. We need to change the amount of convenience food we eat and the reasons why. 

If you would like to listen to my chat with Paulette, you can listen here from 1:07 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p019b0rp/Paulette_Edwards_Walking_Festival/

To listen to Ron'y show click here and listen from 17:30 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p019fn36/Rony_Robinson_Hendersons_Relish_art/

Exciting times

Next week sees the release of my first published book! I am very excited about this and the opportunities that will arise from it. The book is called "54 Ways to Keep Your Family Healthy" and will be available from Amazon and Waterstones online as well as my website www.wisechoicenutrition.co.uk and some local bookshops too.

As the book title suggests, it is all about keeping your family healthy. With today's busy lifestyles, healthy eating is more important than ever to help our bodies cope with the demands but its frequently a long way down the priority list. Obesity is continuing to rise despite government health initiatives and education programs so something else needs to be done.

The book shows you how to eat healthily, build in exercise and lead a busy but healthy life without breaking the bank and needing more hours in the day. If you need some advice on getting your little ones to eat healthily or fitting in some exercise then this is the book for you. It's written with advice that suits the majority of people and isn't just for parents.

I wanted to write a book that gave people honest and simple advice without the need to spend a fortune on products and foods you may only eat once. Most of us don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen and need quick, simple but healthy meals to eat. We also need realistic advice on making changes to our diet and lifestyles. Clearly, government health messages are just not making people change their lifestyles. Is this because they don't explain how? Is it because people are fed up of being told what to do?

As well as the book, don't forget I also run food clubs in Chesterfield and soon Hallam FC in Sheffield.The Real Food Club is an alternative to traditional slimming clubs. It's not just for people wanting to lose weight but those who need to eat healthily. To book on a session or find out more email info@wisechoicenutriton.co.uk or call Hannah on 07912 556470.

A rant

Today, it's been highlighted that WeightWatchers have a major contract with the NHS to deal with weight loss patients. This is also going to be on the Dispatches programme tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm. 

When I read this, I was furious. I had seen that south Lincolnshire were sending people to Weight Watchers groups but wasn't aware it was now nation wide. There two things I have an issue with here:

• Firstly, WeightWatchers meetings are not run by qualified nutritionists or dietitians. They are run by former members who have lost weight using the WeightWatchers program. So why does the NHS bother to employ dietitians and nutritionists if they are then not going to use them??
• Secondly, WeightWatchers is a diet which teaches you to count points. It doesn't teach you healthy eating and the importance of exercise. Most people know the importance of them both but we should promoting that not Calorie and point counting. We need to encourage people to make healthy lifestyle choices which will continue for the rest of their life and be something the whole family can partake in to encourage healthy eating habits in children.

I'm very much looking forward to watching the Dispatchers programme although it will have to be on catch up as I have food club and hope to be able to find out the reasons why the NHS feels WeightWatchers is appropriate. I will also be taking my food club leaflets to doctors surgeries and promoting a healthier way of losing weight and eating which doesn't involve Calorie and point counting.

Incidentally does anybody else think Greg Wallace looks ill now on all the WeightWatchers adverts?

Hannah