It's Dietitians Week - #dietitiansfuelyourhealth

This week, 8th - 14th April, is Dietitians Week! We are lucky to have our dietitian, Sophie Nation.

Sophie is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian, with over 19 years experience. Sophie has worked in New Zealand and the UK, in a mix of hospital and community-based work, supporting a range of clients from premature babies through to adults. Sophie’s passion is nutrition in infants and children.

This week is all about recognising and celebrating all the amazing work dietitians do to support those in our community who:

• are struggling to meet their daily nutritional needs

• are wanting to maximise their health and nutrition

• have food allergies, intolerances, or digestive problems

• need alternative nutrition, such as feeding tubes - which may be short term or long term

• need support to improve their relationship with food

• need support to manage medical conditions and maximise health

When working with our families, kids often have allergies and / or intolerances that have created a lot of anxiety around eating and drinking - and the number one thing our parents are most concerned about is how they can support their kids to eat well. Sophie, alongside Siobhan, our Speech Language Therapist, works with families to build on safe foods, expanding these in creative ways to improve nutrition and add more variety. Having both professionals at all appointments means that you can be sure we cover all bases of eating and drinking; nutritional, oro-motor, sensory and behavioural.

Ka pai tō mahi Sophie, and all our New Zealand dietitians!

#dietitiansfuelyourhealth

Savings at the checkout

With the supermarket bill ever rising, it feels harder to put food on the table for our friends and whānau. We came across this great article from Dish New Zealand with tips and tricks on how to save at the supermarket.  

Check out the article here: https://dish.co.nz/tips-tricks/guides/9-tips-for-spending-less-on-produce/

Some key takeaways!

• Grow your own fruit, vegetables, and herbs – this is a great way to save money in the long run – plus it’s awesome for our kids to understand where their food comes from and get stuck in the garden.

  • We are lucky enough to have a plum and apricot tree that give us lots of fruit over the summer period.

• Shopping in season will always be cheaper – and tastier!

• Fresh, frozen, or canned – these are all good options, and worth exploring to find which is the best value for money.

• Get creative with fruit and vegetables as they ripen – banana bread, carrot cake, vegetable soup – there are plenty of options to use up fruit and vegetable from the bottom of the vege drawer.

• We love these tips on storage – even if you get something on sale or at a good price, it’s gone to waste if you have to eventually throw it out.

• Planning meals for the week – this is also a great time to get your kids involved in picking their favourite meals or exploring new ones together.