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25.01.2022 One-sided messages that present food in a negative light (even with good intentions) increase the desire as well as consumption of those foods. Neutral food messaging allows a mindset that enables positive thinking about all foods and a greater capacity to build a healthy relationship with food. Have you been trying to practise neutral language when it comes to food? #healthyeating

24.01.2022 #foodeducation . I cant tell you how many times Ive seen a post of half a donut with a caption that says, all in moderation. Visual communication is powerful and is used because it transcends language. BUT what if the language that its paired with is contradictory. When we see and hear mixed messages like this it dissipates trust, especially the trust that we have in ourselves. When our message isnt unified, it leads to uncertainty. . Health communication like the half ...a donut is meant to be helpful, but is it? Does it imply that its a health risk to eat a whole donut? Does this message imply restriction is a form of moderation in a diet? We need to remember that images tell a story and when people are invested emotionally in diet culture the comprehension of these messages can be damaging. This is where the pendulum can swing between the black and white. . Where is the grey? The grey is in understanding your own needs and respecting all foods. Its also recognising that we can learn to filter this information and that social media is a form of persuasive text. Some great questions to ask yourself are: Who benefits from this? Is there another perspective? Why is it important to be influenced by this? . Whether you eat the donut or not, does not need to be the message. Enjoying the donut or whatever you choose is what matters. #donutsdonutsdonuts . Remember to checkout Foost and Kates take on this too! . . . . . #primaryteacher #nutritionist #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #parenting #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #healthyeating #healthyfood #teachersfollowteachers

24.01.2022 #foodeducation . Ive teamed up with the super talented Kate from Foost to bring you a series on the #shadesofgrey in nutrition. Kate is a dietitian and mum who has a wealth of experience with food education and family feeding. Weve decided to explore some common health messages that are so confusing! Learn with us how we can shift our thinking to the #greyzone. . I talk about this message A LOT! Black and white narratives about food are very much either in the positive or n...egative zone and feed directly into food rules. Common food rules in schools are making children eat the sandwich before the donut or showing a teacher an empty lunch box before going outside to play. Why do we do this? What purpose does it serve? What message are we giving children about food? . Well Im here to tell you, nutrition is never absolute and Rules are made to be broken, and its us adults that have to be willing to bend them. When it comes to food many people have a fixed mindset - what should be eaten, how much, or what order. Then we add the layer that food is all about health. Sociocultural norms can influence our thinking and lets be honest public health models love the black/white narrative. Inflexible thinking about food destroys our trust in what we feed ourselves and rule-based thinking focuses on external factors to regulate our food intake. . When we turn our thinking to a growth mindset, we learn to honour our bodys internal cues. We learn that our bodies are flexible and they can tell us how much we need. We also learn that food is also flexible as we can enjoy it in a variety of ways and eat it in any order. Besides being fuel, food is also joy, memories and connection. Its fun and worthy of being celebrated. How can you shift your thinking to #shadesofgrey when it comes to food and nutrition? #nutritionist #primaryteacher . . . . . . #peteacher #nuancednutrition #healtheducation #blackandwhitenutrition #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #effectiveteaching #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #positiveparenting #teachertribe #tuesdaythoughts #aussieteachers See more

24.01.2022 #foodeducation . Many health professionals talk about learning to read nutrition labels on packet foods so we can pick the most nutritious foods. This message does have good intentions but we should really consider the purpose and audience. The reasons we need to learn about labels are wide and varied. Its not always about choosing the healthy option. It might be a means to increase energy intake or support a person who has an allergy intolerance or medical condition. . What... else do we need to know about nutrition labels? Nutrition panels give us information about energy and nutrients as well as ingredients. The kilojoules or kilocalories on labels are average for the nutrients protein, fat (included saturated fat) carbohydrates, sugars and salt (listed as sodium). Our society places an emphasis of controlled nutrition and encourages people to focus on external measures like calories, serving sizes, portions or even a meal plan. Were primed to take notice of the kilojoules or calories so we dont consume excess energy but what were not told is that these numbers dont correlate to energy in and/or energy out of the body. . When it comes to education about nutrition its important that we recognise that our senses drive our desire for food and not the nutrition label. It can be a useful tool but its not the be all when it comes to choosing food. When we abstract food into just nutrients with a desired outcome of eating better food we can induce feelings of guilt and shame. This is why we dont teach children about nutrients at such a young age. They just dont have the cognitive capacity to interpret health benefits of food nor should they be worried about their health through the food they eat. How can we move beyond the food being just energy and nutrients? #nutritionist . Remember to check out what Kate from Foost has to say about reading labels too. . . . . . #primaryteacher #peteachers #teachersofinstagram #healtheducation #positiveparenting #mumlife #dadlife #parenting101 #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #effectivecommunication #effectiveteaching #aussieteachers #teacherpd #healthyfood #healthyeating #healthylifestyle #nutritionlabels See more

23.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . Have you ever considered that this is healthy and unhealthy in disguise? Pictures books are such a beautiful way to become immersed in another world, one full of imagination and creativity. . For example, The Very Hungry Caterpillar , some people infer that the caterpillar became fat because it ate too much. Its also inferred that overeating energy-dense highly palatable food makes you feel awful and eating more nutritious foods makes you feel goo...d. The shift to focus on how food makes us feel is an insidious way of labelling foods good and bad. This information is grossly inaccurate. . Lets unpack this: Overeating is normal. We all do it at some point. We can feel ill after eating ANY kind of food. ALL food can makes us feel great when we eat it. We dont ALWAYS over consume less nutritious foods. During growth periods we eat more. . My concern is that adults are using this angle to teach about food ideologies - the effect they think food has on their health. When you eat too much you feel tired, stuffed, full, nauseous, uncomfortable and tight. It should never be implied that its bad to eat a certain kind of food and good to eat another. I know this is not the intention but you dont have to explicitly say it for it to be inferred. Children engage in the world through their sense. They cant filter these abstract moralised messages about food. . For the love of all our children please, please start to filter out this moralisation of food. All food has value in our lives, regardless of its nutritional quality. #foodstories #foodcurious See more

23.01.2022 #foodforthought . Neutral food language allows for space to learn. It opens up conversations, it enables curiosity. . ‘Healthy’ isn’t absorbed like a sponge because we say it, it’s absorbed through the everyday experience. Everyday we’re showing children what they can eat at every meal opportunity. Remember this is on repeat. ... . Getting caught up in ideologies about food only serve to confuse and feed negative relationships with the stuff we eat. When we think food is a problem because of its nutrient composition, it can become a problem. We think about it obsessively, we can never eat it to satisfaction. We’ll restrict it, attempt to ‘replace’ it with an alternative and find that when we let our guard down, we devour it and then some. The guard of willpower isn’t a thing when it comes to eating. Our body will always win. How ‘healthy’ is that? . What we know is, that removing the barriers - the unnecessary food language we can start to provide an environment to practise ‘health’. Living ‘health’ is about a process of practise everyday. We can’t learn it any other way. It’s just the way it is. . When our environment supports eating with pleasure our bodies learn to meet their nutrient and energy needs. This is the ‘healthy’ that our body needs. It’s as mind blowing as that! #foodeducation . . . . . #nutritionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #healtheducation #foodneutrality #foodcurious #learntoeat #kidsnutrition #teachersofinstagram #teacherpd #healthyparents #healthyteachers #melbourneteachers #aussieteachers #teachertribe #itshealthy #pedagogy #elementaryteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachershare #teacherproblems #primaryschool #healthyeating #healthyfood See more

22.01.2022 I highly recommend Sassi Fit. Perfect time to schedule and exercise routine to support yourself in these difficult times.

21.01.2022 #foodforthought . Over time children grow. This year the conversation has turn to children gaining weight. This is a sensitive topic and one I’ve come across personally and in the wider media. . I find it incredibly difficult to respond to this conversation with words other than, we’re living through a pandemic and it’s normal for children to grow. And then, people get a little defensive and say, oh, I’m just saying or it’s just an observation. None of this is ok, beca...use that ‘observation’ is coming from internalised fatphobia. When we buy into oppression we become an oppressor. . We are living through a pandemic and have spent the greater part of 6 months locked down in our homes and the least most important thing we need to ‘observe’ is a child’s weight gain. And reality is that children are supposed to gain weight over a 6 month period. It’s called growing. The impact of weight stigma has greater health implications than ‘weight gain’ itself. . Our normalised view of ‘fat is bad’ and ‘skinny is good’ is what fuels disordered eating, ridiculous exercise regimes and a buy into diet culture that makes a mint out of our insecurities. To be honest, weight stigma fuels an inner rage in me. This has become such a significant problem that a whole of primary school body image program is being written to be rolled out across Australia. . We need to do better and we need to align ourselves with our school wellbeing policies. This is an institutional problem that needs some robust and challenging conversations. Have you come across this ‘weight’ conversation and how have you handled it? #weightstigma . . . . . #primaryteacher #peteacher #nutritionist #healthybody #bodypositive #iteachpe #melbourneteachers #teacherlife #teachersupport #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #healthliteracy #literacy #picturebooks #teacherpd #healthyteachers #healthyparents #positiveparenting #teachingresources #pedagogy #teachingandlearning #bodyrespect #haes #weightbias

20.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . Im just thinking aloud here. I keep asking myself these questions because I need to maintain my expert learner status. As a teacher, Im as much a learner as my students. . What purpose does learning about nutrients serve? Knowledge is power right?! Maybe not when it comes to how we teach about food and Im talking both adults and children here. Nutrition is an incredibly complex and sophisticated science so I wonder why we oversimplify information so... often. Does teaching nutrients actually make a difference and does this information find us wanting to try new foods or broaden our diet? . Is having this knowledge base important? The education system has shifted from knowledge-based learning, the emphasis of recalling and explaining information but we havent really applied this to food education across all sectors yet. Knowledge-based learning is aligned with a teacher focused pedagogy with the teacher at the front of the class, directing learning with a traditional top down approach. I wondering if were valuing a knowledge base in schools to inform changing eating behaviours rather than other immersive practices? The nutrient is just one single minuscule element thats not even tangible to adults so why are we teaching it to our #littlepeople? . I think as adults, as our starting point, we need to ask if weve been motivated to eat more nutritious foods just because of nutrients and the superfood status? How has this served our primary sensory needs like taste, texture or flavour? Ill tell you now, if the food hasnt been enjoyed the nutrient absorption is negligible. What if the nutrients are really the environment, the gathering and sharing of a meal, the connection and conversation with others, the sensory pleasure from our food experience? #foodeducation See more

20.01.2022 Food is also sociology. When we look at history we see how our food story evolves. Take a step back in time here to see what Melbourne was like in 1925 and what was driving our economy.

20.01.2022 #foodforthought The world is currently experiencing a monumental health crisis. The entire population #covid19 is affected socially and economically. Our need for social connection that emotionally unites us with family and friends is now at a distance and weve had to adapt really quickly to these changes in our way of life. . In times of crisis our body might seek out high energy foods or need more rest so exercising isnt a priority. When we experience a threat like the... lack of access and availability to food it creates a stress response. Our emotional brain overrides our rational thinking brain and we feel unsafe. The result is a chemical fight or flight response, one that also impacts appetite. We need to remember what we choose to eat or not eat doesnt define our health. . Self-care is a term thats bandied around in the world of wellness and is spruiked as bubble baths and manicures when its really touching base with someone you care about or even brushing our teeth. Sustenance is any food available, be it canned frozen, long life, fresh or packet. All food provides nutrition and energy. Our health needs at this time dont need to be hijacked by diet culture. Learn to address our needs with more self compassion. Be kind to yourself. #healthcrisis #bekind See more

20.01.2022 Our lives have changed considerably in the last month and I want to bring your attention to something that Im seeing a lot of on social media. Have you noticed a spike in food memes directed at our behaviours around food? While they might seem funny to some, they just reinforce ideologies steeped in stigma and prejudice. . Food choices arent always as simple as making the right choice, theyre about availability and accessibility. All socioeconomic groups are experiencing... a varied reality of this, yet we still play into the rhetoric of healthy and unhealthy. . Our health behaviours at this time can be driven by fear and anxiety rather than inward reflection and attunement. If we seek health with the the idea its something you get youre most likely following food rules. . The calories in/calories out process is deeply flawed. Calories on packets and in apps dont factor an individuals hormone regulation or how your body behaves metabolically. Seeking out high calorie foods in times of trauma are comforting. Think about the amount of people baking cakes at the moment; theyre most likely evoking happy memories of the past, a time when events were celebrated with food being central to that celebration. This is normal. Food is not our only source of health and it need not be just seen as numbers. #foodforthought #comfortfood See more

20.01.2022 #foodforthought . At the moment theres a flood of resources to help support childrens understanding of the #coronavirus. Our current lived experience of health has been compromised. Being confined in our homes and not participating in regular outings and activities, theres increased anxiety and stressors on everyday life. . Age-appropriate messages when it comes to health are essential. Health is multidimensional and embedded in daily life. Childrens perception of health ...varies depending on their age and stage of cognitive development. Children generally view health as a positive concept and illness, like a cold as something caused by wet hair or cold air rather than germs. . Pressure on families are at an all time high and exploring healthy can become overwhelming especially when the learning environment has been flipped to the home. Supporting health and well-being is about having fair opportunities and were seeing more than ever at this time that food insecurity is a real problem. Healthy can moralise lifestyles and children arent necessarily in charge of this. Health isnt just and equal, even in the lucky country Australia. Its largely about economics and skills not just knowledge. We need to be mindful that our current circumstances will drive emotional responses when discussing health, even if were not judging and it not being our intention, it may feel like it. #healthy #unhealthy See more

19.01.2022 #foodforthought . This is another common food lesson given to primary age children. Food lessons at school dont need to be about eating. Eating is a learned behaviour and food lessons about school should not be about behaviour change. . There are so many rich ways we can explore food minus the focus on eating. Eating is best left at the table. Food education (which is also nutrition education) is best explored through critical inquiry. Learning is best approached in more c...ontemporary ways with a slow build. This build happens each year with a whole school approach. Forget comprehension style work like the draw a healthy plate, get children exploring their food environment. It might be the environment at home, school or local and wider community. Ditch the teacher-led instructional style of teaching and embrace a more personalised student centred approach. Engage with community experts and draw upon a wide variety of resources. Worksheet workshops, as I like to call them are so 1980 and teach what? . How can you promote student voice and empowerment in the learning process when it comes to food education? #healtheducation See more

19.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . We need to think differently when it comes to teaching health. An emphasis on correcting health behaviours is often seen as an outcome of learning. Fix it approaches are short term interventions with health being seen as a perfect objective. Is it really possibly to expect an achievement of 100% health with behaviour interventions? Health influencers like to claim it is without considering the social determinants of health that are barriers for people. .... Children do not need to be filled up with health information with the hope theyll just do it. The focus on health behaviour change is ineffective and not the role of a teacher. Teachers are not health professionals. Our role as teachers are to help children build access to resources (personal & community) in everyday life. Take the children (and yourself) on an inquiry journey to learn about and build the assets of health for a lifelong journey. Teachers working alongside and with students rather than just instructing on health. Two curious questions I have for you to delve into before planning your next health unit: What health literacy and strengths do my students already have? How can I facilitate learning to help students pack their own toolkit to live well now and in the future? #nutritionist #primaryteacher . . . . . #healthlessons #healtheducation #inquirylearning #foodeducation #teachersofinstagram #melbourneteachers #peteacher #hpe #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #teacherpd #healthyliving #healthliteracy #foodcurious #criticalinquiry #strengthbased #primaryteaching #elementaryteacher #teachertribe #teachersfollowteachers #tagateacher #learningisfun #teachingandlearning #effectiveteaching #pedagogy See more

19.01.2022 #nosugarcoating . When will this become a thing of the past? When will schools have food relationships on their radar rather than binary food categories? . During our time working online with students, Ive had a number of people send me similar images because this has been set as a learning task. Theres so much wrong with this kind of learning. Apart from the obvious of placing foods into distinct categories based on nutrient composition, I dont understand why this low-le...vel recall, fill in the blanks, labelling work is considered a teaching tool. . Any child that grows up in our diet culture mentality can tell you whats (considered) healthy or unhealthy and they certainly dont need a worksheet like this to reinforce the damaging dialogue about food. . In Australia, evidence shows that young people are increasingly at risk of eating disorders. While there are genetic vulnerabilities and psychological factors that influence eating disorders, its also known that sociocultural influence plays a significant role too. These normalised conversations about food based on health do not serve their intended outcome. They serve to diminish trust in the food environment and the choices we make. . A starting point is to consider how you change the food dialogue in your everyday life. Start by just calling foods but their intended name and leave the health out of it. #foodeducation See more

19.01.2022 #foodeducation . #eatlesssugar is such a simple message and wouldnt it be great if we could all just eat less of it. As humans we like to categorise and simplify information - less becomes how much then we start to overcomplicate it with worrying about all forms of sugar. The barrage of messages range from the sugars in milk and fruit to the more discretionary sometimes foods. Is this really helpful and can we really learn to eat less of the sweet stuff? No, its not helpf...ul and yes we can learn to change the repertoire of food our taste buds enjoy. . Health messages like eat less are about regulating eating behaviours. While I do preach a neutral approach to food, I recognise that eating highly processed foods can be problematic. The reason I dont preach the eat less message is because Ive learnt that reductionist messages arent helpful especially when it comes to educating children. Our innate preference of sweet foods is often demonised rather than celebrated. Our biological drive to consume carbohydrates because they are palatable and sweet is normal. When the message shifts along the linear scale towards less were ultimately telling people to undo something. It seems to be a deficit message backed up by an underlying biased weight-centric narrative. . Single ingredient messages like eat less sugar polarises food, focusing on one small part without recognising the broader social, financial, educational or nutritional implications of individuals. Keeping foods on an even playing field especially in the education context is so important. Eating less sugar as a broader population message is meaningless without learning to build a repertoire of food along with skills, knowledge and capacity. Eating well should never come from less. #nutritionist . Make sure you jump over to read what Kate from Foost has to say about the #sweetstuff . . . . . #primaryteacher #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #sugar #healthyeating #healthyfood #teachersfollowteachers See more

18.01.2022 #foodforthought . Chocolate is unhealthy. Is it really helpful to think this way? Food is medicine. Food doesnt cure illness but it does make us feel better especially when we eat what we enjoy. Eat your sandwich before your cake . Since when does eating in order of a food pyramid help us listen to the bodys internal cues or honour eating for pleasure?... . These are common phrases we hear about food. Adults have a role in helping shape childrens food preferences. Our preferences from our environment (social and cultural) and biology help determine these. What we say in that environment impacts our relationship with food. . Because Im all about curiosity, Ill drop these questions here for you to explore in your own time. . Have you ever questioned your thoughts about food? Have these beliefs turned into facts or rules about food? What negative thoughts have you developed about food from negative experiences? What kind of environment are you providing for children to learn to eat? Are there negative conversations about food? What experiences have shaped your food preferences? Do negative thoughts about food determine your food choices? How has shaming food impacted your relationship with it? #foodmessages #foodtalk See more

18.01.2022 Look at this! Food curious child over at Foost & Kids Unlimited. This kind of open ended exploration allows children to blossom. They learn to inquire, construct meaning, make connections and discover knowledge for themselves. They learn facts, build knowledge and best of all, ask questions. Food education should not be about direct instruction - adults having the knowledge and children seeking the right answer. A nuanced approach builds success rather than just relying on definitive answers and knowledge which is often used in the education sector. Think, this is an everyday or sometimes food. Theres so much more we can learn when we ditch this black and white narrative.l!

16.01.2022 #foodforthought . Are these words your constant companion? There’s no such thing as ‘being good’ or ‘being bad’ when it comes to food. Diet culture reinforces these messages in order to push us towards further restriction. . The psychological implications food restriction result in an increased emotional response to food. Your brain will fight back, loading brain space with preoccupied thoughts of food. The physical response will be to seek out food and binge. The cycle of r...estrict-binge continues with massive doses of guilt and shame. This isn’t a healthy way to live. . It’s normal for your body to want food when it lacks energy. It’s also normal to have ‘cravings’ of a particular food when you frequently restrict. Consider ‘being good’ or ‘being bad’ as an opportunity to check in with your body. Reframe your thinking and just name the food and consider how much you enjoy it. Check in to your body more often rather than checking out and following restrictive rules. Go on, I dare you! #happyeating . . . . . #nutritionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #healthyteachersaus #healthyteachers #aussieteachers #dietculture #foodisfood #teachersofinstagram #teachersdownunder #melbourneteachers #foodeducation #healthyeating #foodrelationship #teacherpd #teachersfollowteachers #iteach #healthyfood #teachershelpingteachers #teachershare #staffroom #teachernutrition #foodcurious #teachergram #healthliteracy #bodyrespect See more

16.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . My heart aches when adults ask me questions like this. The food someone asked me about was a multigrain cracker. How sad has our life become when we think that a food is bad? This is a classic example of a broken and damaged food relationship. Tarnished thoughts supported by food rules as a result of years of dieting. ... . Repeat after me...NO food is bad unless it’s rotten and inedible. Allow yourself to challenge the inner food police and these kinds of damaging thoughts. #foodisfood . . . . . #nutritionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #healthyfood #foodcurious #healthyteachers #aussieteachers #melbourneteachers #teachersdownunder #teacherpd #positiveparenting #teachershare #teachertribe #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #wholegrains #biscuits #dietculture #foodrules #mindsetmatters #teachertalk #foodtalk #mentalhealthawareness See more

16.01.2022 Pressure to eat can come in many forms. I’m pointing out a few that I come across often. . Pressure to eat can be bribing, coercion, coaxing, rules, blackmail and an over emphasis of positivity. Telling a child their food is healthy is also a form of pressure. This is still a focus on ‘getting children to eat more healthy foods’. Once we provide the food we need to step back and allow children the time and space to eat it. #schoollunchbox

15.01.2022 A few weeks ago I was a guest on the Eating Words Podcast with Sarah Dempster. Sarah is a public health nutritionist and psychologist based in Scotland and reached out to me last year to invite me to speak about food education. This was my first podcast and it was so much fun! I was quite nervous about listening back and hearing my own voice this morning but I think I got the positive food education message across. Have a listen and share this with your friends. Kelly

14.01.2022 Today is International No Diet Day. . Our society perpetuates a culture of healthism with a discourse that body shape is to be measured and controlled. . Our society perpetuates the unhealthy versus healthy narrative praising what we eat reflecting our worth.... . Our society endorses a view of being healthy as complying to rules and procedures. . No diet day celebrates our uniqueness and body diversity while challenging discrimination. Not dieting can mean food freedom and body acceptance, a greater peace and respect for your body. #nodietday #nutritionist See more

14.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . How healthy is Harold? . For those who don’t know, Harold is a giraffe character/puppet that visits schools with educators to talk everything health. He’s been around since 1979 which is probably the time when ‘health promotion’ was emerging as the means to counteract ‘health risks’. Traditionally this program has focused on ‘health behaviours’ and still does to this day. When it comes to the food and nutrition component, the focus is on ‘what’ a heal...thy diet is. This kind of practice is very common in our schools. Teach children about ‘what’ they ‘should’ be eating to ‘be healthy’. . I know that programs like this, at their heart, have the best of intentions. Here, I share my curious questions with the hope that you will also reflect, wonder and consider effectiveness of ‘healthy eating’ programs. Do best intentions mean best practice? Are preventative health measures like teaching a ‘healthy choice’ in food education actually supporting healthy eating? Do children come away from these programs willing to try new foods or worrying about food? Is a focus on teaching nutrition and ‘eating for health’ really helping children long term? How are food relationships centred in these programs? . As teachers, we really need to be having these hard conversations and critically evaluating the programs and resources we’re using in schools when it comes to health and healthy eating. I encourage you to drum up some support in your school and start these conversations. Let’s get to it! #healthyeating . . . . . #nutritionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #healthyfood #schoolprograms #melbourneteachers #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #teachingandlearning #healthyteachers #healthyparents #positiveparenting #foodcurious #foodtalk #pedagogy #incursions #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #elementaryteacher #teachertribe #foodrelationship See more

14.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . If I don’t teach nutrition, how do I teach healthy eating? . First, you ARE teaching nutrition when you work with food in ANY and EVERY capacity. Think CAPACITY! What knowledge do students already bring to the classroom about food? In saying that, they will most likely have a healthy versus unhealthy mindset. It’s the reality of the world we live in. It’s currency for the food industry and diet companies. ... . Remember that nutritionism is valuing food for its nutrients and this is the mindset we want to reframe within ourselves. There are broader mechanisms of health at play when it comes to food. . A few reminders and examples why food education as opposed to ‘nutrition education’ needs to be the centre of learning: . Children cannot see nutrition. They see food. . Eat a variety, eat more/less, moderation and balance are abstract concepts. Children are concrete learners. They like to learn through their physical senses. . Donuts are food. They’re not junk. Junk is something considered useless, rubbish or of little value. I’m sure many people have enjoyed a donut or two in their lifetime and didn’t feel like they were eating ‘junk’. . Children don’t select food based on their ‘health benefits’. Their preferences are determined from their previous food experiences and exposures. . Teach children about food not nutrition. #foodeducation . . . . . #nutritionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #melbourneteachers #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #teachertalk #healthyfood #healthyteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachergram #teachersfollowteachers #teachershare #foodcurious #foodeducation #hpe #australiancurriculum #victoriancurriculum #teachertribe #teachershare #effectiveteaching #teachingandlearning #teacherpd #pedagogy

13.01.2022 Watch this video to find out how to make the easiest pasta on a budget! So easy, even a 5 yr old can do it!

13.01.2022 #foodeducation . My message to you is to learn to pack the shades of grey into your food thought and talk toolkit. Complete health is not realistic. When we see health as something we can attain or get we miss the cues our body screams at us when its not completely satisfied. Food is morally equal, it just has different nutritional quantities. Each person has their own way of eating and food preferences. Adult, child or baby, were all food learners. . When we acknowledg...e that we live health everyday we become more at peace with our inner wisdom. We see the nuance and we work at avoiding the extremes. Our education system is slowly changing its approach to teaching health. When we recognise that we continue to learn and identify the strengths we ALL have, we can build capacities, skills and knowledge. Behaviours arent the focus, nor is fixing the broken. Social contexts and the whole person is considered. Empowerment through building relationships and trust versus problem solving, labelling and limiting thinking. . Kate from Foost and I hope that you continue to learn in the #greyzone with us. Were still on this journey too and will continue to unpack this in our life journey. . Please let us know if you enjoyed these posts...and what topics you would like us to cover next? What words would you like to see taken out of nutrition messages and language? #nutritionist #wordsmatter . . . . . #primaryteacher #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #parenting101 #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #healthyeating #healthyfood #foodisfood #teachersfollowteachers #foodtalk #foodforthought See more

12.01.2022 #foodforthought . There are up to 32 steps to eating. Learning to eat is about meeting milestones that relate to postural stability, oral and fine motor development, sensory development and social skills. It’s far beyond the two step process we think is eating, sit down and eat. Eating is the last step but one that is challenged all the time with new foods. . Like learning to read, we need to meet the learning at the ‘just right’ entry point. With both learning to read and l...earning to eat, we engage with positive exposures, build on prior knowledge, make meaningful connections, build skills, allow for time, errors and practise, and extend the learning where appropriate. . Children will not ‘get’ how to read if they don’t have explicit teaching with adults and experiences to develop fluency and comprehension. Same goes for eating. The success happens when we provide the experiences and the time. ‘Let’ children learn in their own time. #learntoeat . . . . . #primaryteacher #nutritionist #peteacher #foodliteracy #foodeducation #foodcurious #literacy #melbourneteachers #neurolearning #neuroscience #teachersofinstagram #psychology #parenting #healthyteachers #healthyeating #teachertribe #aussieteachers #teachergram #teachersdownunder #cognition #positiveparenting #explicitteaching #readingcomprehension See more

12.01.2022 #sproutingcuriosity . Do you speak kindly to yourself about food? . Let’s get curious? I want you to write down how you talk about food for an entire day. Write it on a scrap piece of paper or in the notes app on your phone. ... . Reflect back on these words at the end of the day using the THINK acronym. . T - Is it TRUE? H - Is it HELPFUL? I - Is it INSPIRING? N - Is it NECESSARY? K - Is it KIND? . How can you reframe your thoughts? Next time a messed up food thought comes to mind try to think with kindness. #reframeyourthoughts #growthmindset . . . . . #primaryteacher #nutritionist #peteacher #teachersofinstagram #elementaryteacher #healthyteachersaus #aussieteachers #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #kindthoughts #kindness #foodtalk #learning #healthyeating #healthyfood #teachershare #teachersfollowteachers #teacherwellbeing See more

12.01.2022 #foodforthought . I often talk about food education as opposed to nutrition education and age-appropriate learning. What if we considered that children are learning nutrition through each and every food exposure? This is something Ive been thinking about more and more. . There seems to be an understanding that we need to teach the nutritional profile of food so people make healthy choices. Now, we can have all the knowledge in the world, but does that mean were going t...o actually follow through and apply it? No, it doesnt. This is why focusing on what to eat is a problem-centred approach. We become fixated on rules, checks and balances and see the solution is healthy eating. . What if we learnt to embrace the how not the what? Each and every exposure to food for children builds up to nutrition knowledge, skills and capacity. . Each time they: plant a seed and watch it grow use their pocket money to buy food help prepare and cook a meal write a shopping list help pick food off the supermarket shelf pack their lunch box read a recipe book share a meal with family, friends or classmates discover where food comes from children are learning nutrition through implicit ways. These ways make much more sense to them and Id argue they make much more sense to adults too. . Implicit learning supports more explicit learning and theres a place for both of these. Each and every exposure and experience is part of the build to understanding nutrition. #nutritionist . . . . . #primaryteacher #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #parenting101 #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #healthyeating #healthyfood #foodisfood #teachersfollowteachers #foodtalk See more

11.01.2022 We all know this discourse when it comes to food. It frequently appears in black and white conversations about food but how can we view this with #shadesofgrey. Well first lets unpack why black and white is used. Its purpose is to distinguish between foods that are densely nutritious and foods that are manufactured with less nutritional value. Its also an attempt (not a very good one!) to give an indication about how often these foods are to be consumed. . While food label...ling like this may seem logical and practical, its become quite problematic and ineffective especially with using these messages with children. I feel like food labelling is about conditioning our thoughts and behaviours around food. How purposeful is it to teach children this way about food? Oversimplifying food into such categories actually complicates it more. Is it really helpful to be defining food in such temporal terms? My experience tells me it isnt because, if this message worked effectively, then I wouldnt have adults asking me how often sometimes foods should be eaten. . If we removed these labels, what do we use instead? Why do we always need to use words to teach about food? How can we empower those working with children to bring valuable and meaningful learning experiences about food without adding the food labels? What if we used more experiences where we developed food acceptance without putting food on a linear scale? . What if we embraced the nuance of language about food and thought like this: . Sometimes I eat chocolate everyday. Everyday I enjoy a coffee when I wake up. Everyday I love the opportunity to share a meal with my family. . Make sure you jump over to Foost for Kates take on Everyday and Sometimes when it comes to food language. #foodeducation #nutritionist See more

11.01.2022 Little Food Festival is on next Wednesday - 30/9/2020.

10.01.2022 #newblog . NEW ARTICLE FOR TEACHERS . Modern day superheroes in PE lessons: Empowerment or Oppression ... . Body image, everyone has it, feels it, lives it. That may be comfortable for some and disturbed and messed up for others. As a PE teacher my role deals not only with the physicality of the body but how the body is perceived. . In this article I unpack some observations Ive made with teacher professional learning and the places where body image messages are hiding in plain sight. #bodyimage See more

10.01.2022 The Little Food Festival is online this year and will run from 10:00am to 3:00pm on 30 September. Registration is free. Sign up for a downloadable activity booklet and to see what's on offer. Everything from Minecraft, cooking, craft, science projects and story time.

10.01.2022 NEW ARTICLE FOR TEACHERS Cultivating food freedom during self isolation I've had a number of teachers ask me about feeding themselves well during self isolation. A time of trauma not only impacts our mental health but it changes our physiology. Our feeding behaviours and patterns can be disturbed and we may scrutinise these more than usual. How can we become more self-aware in our current situation? How can support our own food relationship during self isolation? Read m...y article to help explore this. Kelly https://www.thecuriousnutritionist.com.au/cultivating-food/

09.01.2022 Stay tuned... Foost

09.01.2022 NEW ARTICLE FOR TEACHERS Nourishment doesn't just come from the food we eat but the calmness of the mealtime. A body that is fed in a calm food environment promotes nutrient absorption. With children returning to school for the first time since late March after being in isolation, they will need extra support adjusting to new meal times. Trauma can impact the interoceptive system, the sensory system that enables the body to feel what's happening inside it. This article give...s you an insight as to what this means for eating and how we can support nourishing children by the eating environment we provide. Happy reading, Kelly

09.01.2022 One of the people I've admired most over my teaching career was Sir Ken Robinson. He advocated for education transformation with the vision of creativity and innovation. Sadly Sir Ken passed away on the 21st August. His legacy will certainly be passed on in education for many years to come.

09.01.2022 #foodforthought . All foods fit at anytime. . If we realistically look at our food environment, its quite common that children are exposed to sometimes foods everyday. Then we send a message to limit them. While thats exactly how we want children to eat, this message actually makes these foods more appealing. ... . Giving children access to these sometimes foods is actually supporting their relationship with all foods. If children are fixated on one of these foods it might mean more regular access for a while to help normalise them. Finding the balance of how often to offer them is very individual for each family. . The everyday and sometimes food are seeded in diet culture and food rules which is about external measures and micromanaging nutrition. How can we think differently and with more neutrality about foods? . Practise calling food by its actual name. Offer a range of foods alongside each other. E.g. Apple, chocolate, carrots, biscuits. Dont limit amounts - your body will learn to do this. Refrain from commenting on how much you (or your child) are eating. Let the food experience be guided by the enjoyment of time together. . You ALWAYS have permission to eat any food. See more

08.01.2022 To all my TCN FB devotees, Due to the current pandemic of COVID-19, theres a huge amount of health propaganda out there and showing up on our feeds. Please dont share this information as its harmful. No amount of Vitamin C supplementation, warm water salt and vinegar gargle, ingesting bleach or celery juice will prevent or cure this novel virus. Instead of sharing this information, please report it to FB so the posts can be removed. We need to support each other, keep ...the calm and not contribute to the chaos that were seeing at the moment. To report a post, click the three dots at the top of a post, a list will pop up for you to mark report. Ive been reporting these posts as false news. Kelly

08.01.2022 #foodeducation . Lets clear this up! It doesnt matter if your brownies are made from beans, a family recipe or a packet mix. Im all for eating for optimal health but sometimes the healthify message becomes faddish. Not all foods need to be boosted with extra nutrition to be worthy of eating. . When we see these healthified food messages they appeal to our emotions. Our emotions feed into our morals and our morals about food can become skewed with our rational brain pus...hed aside. But... we also eat with our emotions?! Oh, what confusion?! Recognising that our body does a fabulous job at cueing us to respond. This is part of our interoceptive awareness, those inner body sensations we feel and process with we receive information. I wonder how much we channel our cues to the external though? Our environment primes us in lots of ways too. Healthifying food isnt necessarily a bad thing but it can be if the message is attained to ones worth about what they eat or dont eat. Kate (Foost) and I have discussed this topic in length and the messages it can imply. We both love a black bean brownie but at the end of the day its a brownie that need not be defined in terms of absolute nutrition. Hands up if youre partial to a brownie. #chocolatebrownie . . . . . #primaryteacher #nutritionist #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #teachertips #parentingtips #teachersdownunder #aussieteachers #healthyeating #healthyfood #allfoodfits

07.01.2022 #foodforthought . 245,000,000 results on google if you look up #hiddensugar. This is the message that were fed by influencers, health professionals and government agencies. Nutrition is never black and white, its a world of shades of grey. . Sugar is just an ingredient in foods that is sweet, water-soluble and is present in a wide variety of foods. When you buy a packet product the sugar is clearly labelled. Its a requirement of the Food Standards Code for food labels. An...d yes it has a variety of names. The nutrition panel will tell you the quantity of sugar in the product along with the ingredient list labelling sugar in the ingredients in descending order. . The idea that youre being deceived is belief confused as fact. Beliefs are not facts. When food and nutrition science is oversimplified it actually becomes complicated. An excessive focus on individual ingredients or nutrients are not helpful. Were all vulnerable to these messages when our society perpetuates a culture of healthism. This discourse is about measurement and control of what we eat. Its a narrative that attains worth to whats on our plate or what diet we follow. Positive associations with food need to be a the centre of our relationship with it. Lets not hide that! #nutritionist #foodrelationships See more

07.01.2022 Vegetables are often put on a pedestal as the 'healthy food' we need to eat. When we do this we can diminish their appeal for children still learning to like them. It creates a barrier because children can't taste, see, smell, touch or hear 'healthy'. Healthy isn't just nutrient content of food, it's connecting with others, it's the joy of conversation over a meal, it's having the opportunity to experience food cultures, it's the pleasure and memories it brings. Make sure you listen to this podcast with Alice Zaslavsky.

07.01.2022 #foodforthought . Teachers please don’t use this model to teach children about food. This certainly isn’t an endorsed model. It’s a tool to support adults in selecting foods for school canteens and organisations. . Behaviourist pedagogical approaches like this are ineffective and teacher centred. It’s void of curiosity and exploration. Using a traffic light is just another dichotomous scale. It interprets food only based on its nutrient composition and children aren’t moti...vated by nutrition in selecting food. They select food they’re comfortable with based on the environment provided and experiences with food. . Let’s challenge traditional top down approaches and move towards more inquisitive inquiry based ways of learning about food. #healthyeating . . . . . #nutrionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #melbourneteachers #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #teachertalk #healthyfood #healthyteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachergram #teachersfollowteachers #teachershare #foodcurious #foodeducation #hpe #australiancurriculum #victoriancurriculum #teachertribe #teachershare #effectiveteaching #teachingandlearning #teacherpd See more

06.01.2022 #foodforthought . Another form of foods groups is the Food Pyramid. I can honestly say that as a teacher I used it for the first (and last time) back in 2003. I dont believe it has a place in early childhood or primary education. It dichotomises food and neglects to see that food advice of what to eat fails. Food education doesnt come in a pyramid! It comes from lived experiences. . We need to remember children cannot see nutrition like vitamins and minerals but we can... access learning about it through carefully planned progressions in an age-appropriate way. Health behaviours can still be taught but within context. For young children this might be hygiene before eating food and older children it might be about learning to pack an extra snack to fuel themselves before going to sport training after school. . Providing as many practical learning experiences involving food within context supports motivation and allows for deeper learning. THINK - engaging and fun learning that connects with communication - collaboration - innovation - problem solving - creativity - critical thinking. Then the world is really your oyster! #foodeducation See more

05.01.2022 #foodforthought . Teachers please don’t use this model to teach children about food. This certainly isn’t an endorsed model. It’s a tool to support adults in selecting foods for school canteens and organisations. . Behaviourist pedagogical approaches like this are ineffective and teacher centred. It’s void of curiosity and exploration. Using a traffic light is just another dichotomous scale. It interprets food only based on its nutrient composition and children aren’t moti...vated by nutrition in selecting food. They select food they’re comfortable with based on the environment provided and experiences with food. . Let’s challenge traditional top down approaches and move towards more inquisitive inquiry based ways of learning about food. #healthyeating . . . . . #nutrionist #primaryteacher #peteacher #melbourneteachers #aussieteachers #teachersdownunder #teachertalk #healthyfood #healthyteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachergram #teachersfollowteachers #teachershare #foodcurious #foodeducation #hpe #australiancurriculum #victoriancurriculum #teachertribe #teachershare #effectiveteaching #teachingandlearning #teacherpd See more

04.01.2022 #foodeducation . A common message we hear, Children and adults dont eat the recommended intake of 5 serves of vegetables per day. This is a deficit based message because it focuses on the negative. Its then often counteracted with, Go for 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables per day. Is it realistic that someone goes from one serve of fruit and vegetables per day up to 2 and 5? . I believe the problem with this message is that its unrealistic. Its never reali...stic to change food preferences without learning the skills, building knowledge or understanding the capacities people have or dont have to change these. When we make sudden changes to our diet, we notice more about our body. For example, our body might bloat, have abdominal pain and feel uncomfortable due to such a large increase in fibre. Fibre is fabulous for our body but not when our body isnt used to it. . Im also coming at this from a feeding perspective and understanding the steps to eating new foods. This process is dependent on food familiarisation and teaching our senses to adapt to new food experiences. This is a complex interaction of biology (genetics), physiology, psychology, cultural and social experiences. Fruit and vegetables are our friends only if were privileged with positive experiences, education and financial means to eat them regularly. This is not always possible for the entire population. The process of learning to eat more F & V is lost in the message, Go for 2 and 5. The journey to eat more of them is more important than the destination. . . . . . #primaryteacher #nutritionist #peteacher #kidsnutrition #earlylearningmatters #healtheducation #melbourneteachers #teacherpd #positiveparenting #parenting #teachersdownunder #fruitandveggies #aussieteachers #healthyeating #healthyfood #teachersfollowteachers See more

03.01.2022 Over the last month, I've been contacted by a number of parents who've received 'healthy eating' related content sent home during online learning. If you've been following me for a while, you know my stance on this kind of learning. One thing that I do ask of people when they advocate for their child is that they remain curious as to where the school or teacher is in their own learning about this. In order to plant a seed of change we sometimes need to have some difficult conversations and we know that systematic change in education is very slow growing. When we do open up these conversations, it will be useful for you to use the strategies and tips in the blog by The Mindful Dietitian. Remember we only know what we know before we grow. https://www.themindfuldietitian.com.au//help-my-kid-has-be

01.01.2022 #foodforthought . Processed food gets a bad rap and its often taught in lower primary (Prep-2) as food in packets. The processed and unprocessed food idea comes up in Farm to Table learning units. . Whenever Ive worked in a school that is doing this unit, I ask children to tell me more about processed foods and the automatic response is processed food is unhealthy and unprocessed food is healthy. This is what children may have perceived from the learning or what theyve b...een taught. For the majority of our population this is usual discourse about food so I dont blame teachers for taking on this information. . The problem with these labels is that it oversimplifies the complexity of food choices. Rather than processed food versus unprocessed food this idea should be opened up purely to the processes that keep our food safe and allow it to be available to consumers. How we process food to cook a tasty meal? How a particular food is processed different ways? Think...POTATOES...mashed potato, potato chips, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, mock fish. How we process and preserve food? How we use food by-products to make or preserve other food? . When we limit the thinking we narrow the learning. Food is part of a large complex system and a large complex environment. The more we have with this in mind the broader and deeper the learning opportunities. This happens when we move the learning beyond the what to the why and how. #processedfood See more