Fostering healthy food options in our Schools

Associate Professor of Health and Physical Education at University of Canberra John Williams speaks with senior dietician and Executive Officer Leanne Ellison from ACT Nutrition about healthier food options in our school canteens.

How do we align food options with basic nutritional requirements to support overall healthy school environments, as well as professional development for teachers around nutrition.

Setting up positive food experiences and exposure for children as early as possible.

Transcript

00:00:00 John 

So I'm with Leanne Ellison, who is a long term colleague from my days with Asbury ACT and it's great to charge you. So now you are senior dietician and exec officer with a CT Nutrition support service. So it's we're trying off here a minute ago and it's fantastic to reconnect. 

00:00:20 John 

So you know about what you're doing, your job at the moment. Maybe then start us off and then we'll get into some information may help teachers that will listen to this. 

00:00:29 Leanne 

Yes, sure thing. Thanks for having me, John. And it's great to to connect and talk to some of the folks at Achper who are very fond of achper as an organisation because I think that our teachers and schools in general can have quite a positive impact on. 

00:00:50 Leanne 

Children's food choices. 

00:00:52 Leanne 

And and nutrition education as well. So what I'm doing at the moment, John, is I probably work more so in the canteen space, so supporting healthy school environments in particular and focusing also on canteens and and and helping canteens. 

00:01:12 Leanne 

Provide those healthier options in the school for the children to access. 

00:01:17 Leanne 

And if we have those healthier options in the canteens, then that can align with some of the nutrition basic nutrition information that the short run or students may be learning at school as well. So helping to support an overall healthy school environments. Yeah, I've done some work in the past working with teachers. 

00:01:37 Leanne 

And and professional development for teachers around nutrition. 

00:01:41 Leanne 

Education as well. So yeah, and also lots in the early childhood space too, in setting up those positive the food experiences with children because it does start from a very young age that that positive exposure to healthy foods. 

00:01:59 John 

So that sounds, and it sounds interesting. 

00:02:01 John 

And I know you're going to be talking with Meghan Sosia or Sosia, who's also on the Achper Australia health Promoting Schools committee. 

00:02:11 John 

And so that's, that's another kind of chat. But we spoke a few minutes ago about we're trying to be different things than what might be the best focus for this particular podcast. When they spoke about version nine, if they're showing Strickland for health and PE and you had some really interesting information about that in terms of changes that you've you felt. 

00:02:31 John 

Would be really useful to share with our listeners. 

00:02:34 Leanne 

Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's something that is much needed and and has now been addressed quite appropriately in the Australian curriculum and that is in relation to how teachers talk about food and diet and and and. 

00:02:54 Leanne 

Ensuring that we don't increase any negativity or create any negativity around food and increase the risk of poor food behaviours such as you know, risk of eating disorders and so on. 

00:03:12 Leanne 

And so one of the changes that the main change that has occurred is that the removal of references to weights, body mass index, calories and counting calories or kilojoules and diets as well. 

00:03:32 Leanne 

So it's important that we as teachers that we try not to talk about those sorts of things because it can be a very personal matter and that can be quite frontier for some individuals and can also be quite triggering. So those young students. 

00:03:51 Leanne 

Who are living with problems with around food and are at risk of of eating disorders as well. 

00:04:00 John 

Yeah, that's interesting. It's it's making me think about teenagers without trying to say that's only group of people that I would refer to. But I'm thinking of. 

00:04:10 John 

Kids, for example, and also their friends and and so on. When you talk with that and. 

00:04:15 John 

I Think there's so much pressure now with the media and social media as well about and, you know, like fast food. And there's such a massive pressure and I think. 

00:04:26 John 

Helping teachers are often kind of left to that's our thing to solve, but it's such a massive thing that we're not really in a position we can solve that, but we can certainly help with that with that discussion. 

00:04:41 Leanne 

Yeah. Yeah, and I think. 

00:04:43 Leanne 

I think that you you. 

00:04:44 Leanne 

Just spot on there there, John, because you know we are dealing with what we what we often refer to as an obesity epidemic. You know, there is a lot of proportion of of Australians and and children who you certainly are in in a in a in an excessive weight right. 

00:05:03 Leanne 

Yeah, we have to be very careful how we how we tread around that. And I don't think it's the responsibility for the teachers to feel that they're that they have to. 

00:05:10 Leanne 

Be the solution in any way. 

00:05:13 Leanne 

Or or necessarily part of the solution? I mean, it's really important that children learn about food balance and nutrition. 

00:05:21 Leanne 

Balance. I think that that that is important, but to focus on ways I think is is really damaging and some of those. 

00:05:29 Leanne 

Way out of the the picture entirely and focus on health and you know, as a dietitian, I'm also a a, a private practice dietician. I'd often see people that come in to see me who are concerned about their weight. And the first thing I say is like, I don't really mind what your weight is. I what I what I mind is is how healthy you are. And so people can be. 

00:05:50 Leanne 

Healthy at whatever weight they happen to be, so weight shouldn't really be the determinate determining factor when it comes to health. I think that's really important for teachers to recognise that and so if we take weight entirely out of the discussion, we just focus on nutrition balance when it. 

00:06:08 Leanne 

Comes to food. 

00:06:10 Leanne 

I think that's that is what is most important and also avoiding the discussion around counting calories or dietary protocols as well, because again there as you mentioned earlier John that there is a lot out in the media, there's a lot out on social media as well. 

00:06:30 Leanne 

That helps all sorts of dietary protocols. 

00:06:33 Leanne 

That are not here. 

00:06:34 Leanne 

See and they may have, you know, impactful results for those particular individuals that are are telling those things, but it's not an appropriate thing for for young people to be exposed to. And we want to minimise their exposed to that sort of thing, particularly the school environment as well, which needs to be supportive and. 

00:06:54 Leanne 

And educating them on on the, on the appropriate things that they need to know and that is essentially when it comes to food that nutrition balance and understanding what that looks like as part of you know healthy lifestyle. 

00:07:08 John 

Yeah, it's interesting. And and what you're saying there as well makes me think about one of the key propositions. 

00:07:15 John 

Or the the key ideas. The main propositions in the ACHP and is to encrypt the health and physical execution, and that's about health, literacy and the idea that is giving kids the tools in which to make a decision about things and making sure they get access to the right kind of information for them to make choices. 

00:07:34 John 

Rather than the teacher telling them what to do, but did anything towards UM, appropriate information rather than the potentially harmful examples you gave and what you said did as well about the. 

00:07:46 John 

Great and kind of idea or focus within the curriculum in the past or within teaching in the past reminds me of being a former health and PE teacher myself when we would get kids to right in their way in terms of them to do with them, some kind of maybe human movement. 

00:08:06 John 

Things focus, however it was, but they would record. We and you know, it's like, as I say to my students at the moment, as I each PE teacher, educator. 

00:08:15 John 

There's other stuff within the subject area that other leaders like mathematics, science, English. 

00:08:21 John 

The the kids in those classes aren't exposed to potential humiliation or embarrassment, but in our subject, especially in PE, we do it all the time. You know, like whether it's a big test or whether it's, you know, dodgeball or different things for kids can be embarrassed, humiliated even in the changing room as well, if it's. 

00:08:40 John 

Not about health. 

00:08:42 John 

There's a lot of lot of things there in a subject that need to really kind of address and we've been talking about it for a long time. 

00:08:50 John 

Well, we need to make sure that we keep moving in that direction. So it's actually quite refreshing to hear what your thoughts are about PMI and we and the fact that that we've taken out the curriculums, that's awesome. 

00:09:04 Leanne 

You know and and I understand why teachers are coming from particularly health and PE teachers are coming from back in those days. 

00:09:10 Leanne 

You know, taking the whites and so on. 

00:09:12 Leanne 

But for for their education purpose but not realising that it could actually be more damaging than anything else and and teenagers are particularly good at comparing themselves with each other and comparing themselves to others, you know other influences around them. And then they have so many influences now than we ever did when we were. 

00:09:32 Leanne 

Thought John and I think that you know that whole. 

00:09:35 Leanne 

Feeling like they're somehow less less of a being or or somehow you know that that feeling of humiliation or anything like that. 

00:09:45 Leanne 

Can. 

00:09:45 Leanne 

Be extremely harmful, extremely triggering for certain individuals, and that can only cause more harm, and I think if we could just any reference. 

00:09:55 Leanne 

Especially to things like weight and comparing in any way is. 

00:10:00 Leanne 

Extremely important and also you know we all eat differently. I think we need to respect that that there. 

00:10:06 Leanne 

Is no one. 

00:10:06 Leanne 

Diet for everybody. There is no one way of eating things and I think what's important is just to understand that we all you know, we all come from different backgrounds about cultures are all eat different ways and respecting that and also. 

00:10:20 Leanne 

Expecting that we all have different access to to foods in different ways as well. So again going down the path of of exploring and diets or or promoting anything in particular can be quite harmful as well. And I think if. 

00:10:34 Leanne 

Just you know, right it back and look at the big picture and focus on that, that balance, it's always talk about balance, yeah and and things in moderation and there's no good or bad. I think the discussion also bringing up terminology around food and having that emotion that it can be associated with food can be quite. 

00:10:54 Leanne 

Also, you know when when you might sometimes fall into that, that thing is saying I don't eat. 

00:10:58 Leanne 

That the bad. 

00:10:59 Leanne 

Food. That that, that's that's. 

00:11:01 Leanne 

Quite an emotive. 

00:11:02 Leanne 

Word or that this is a good feat, so there shouldn't be any good or bad. You know, all food is great and we have it in a healthy balance in our lifestyle. And I think that's where we're gonna focus more on is that whole the way that we talk about food in an inclusive way that everyone feels comfortable about and doesn't put anyone. 

00:11:23 Leanne 

On the feel bad about how they might eat or how they they might weigh, or how they might look or anything like that and I think. 

00:11:33 Leanne 

You know, there's there's some great things I think that are gonna come from this where we are gonna be working in this space to come up with some suitable tools and guidelines to support teachers so that they. 

00:11:47 Leanne 

Are more equipped. 

00:11:48 Leanne 

To address these kinds of issues in a sensitive way that isn't going to trigger some of some of the. 

00:11:53 Leanne 

Children and court with regards to in disorder with. 

00:11:58 John 

So it's good to hear that I think, listen to what you're saying and putting a teacher hat on as well. I've I'm doing a few things here. 

00:12:05 John 

I think they are very guilty some of the past, or judging whether it's about we or how someone looks or about their fitness or what they should be doing and what they should be eating and so on. And of course, there are cultural immunities in there as well. And I'm thinking like people eat rice, rice for a cultural reason and and that. 

00:12:25 John 

Maybe be frowned upon as being not healthy, and that idea of not being not having a value judgment. I think the other side of that is the fact that people are probably thinking well, we do have an obesity problem in our society so they. 

00:12:40 John 

For to visit balance, where to be, where to be intervening with what can we say and what we can't, so it's encouraging for you to see there that the idea is to look at resources so that teachers know what they can say and what they can do. Because I think that's the problem. And that's one thing to say, don't do something, don't use this language. 

00:13:01 John 

What can you do instead of watching the view empowered about and what what they can actually do and have an effect? 

00:13:09 Leanne 

Yeah, and I think ohh, I mean right now I think what teachers can probably get out of this podcast is try to always put a positive slant, you know, bring bring the food in a positive light no matter what food which we're talking about, we need. It's really important that everyone has that positive relationship with food and. 

00:13:28 Leanne 

And that there isn't that negative association between, with with any food in party. 

00:13:32 Leanne 

Yeah. And I think you know what a lot of the work that I do at the moment, John, is very much in the early, early years space these days where it's about giving children positive experiences around health issues and by having those positive experiences, then they see that you know they're more likely to want to eat those healthy foods. 

00:13:53 Leanne 

You know, we don't even talk about, you know.The the less Healthy foods, I mean, they're always gonna be.There, and I'm always gonna enjoy them Let's face it and. They are. They can be. 

00:14:02 Leanne 

Part part of it can embrace as part of a healthy diet, but if the more we can focus on that, that that, you know, obviously that that healthy ball. 

00:14:12 Leanne 

And putting that in that positive perspective, I think is really, really crucial and and you know just trying to catch yourself up when talking about diet or going on a diet or losing weight or weight in general, we do have to try and just catch ourselves before we start to go down that. 

00:14:34 Leanne 

Why? I'm whole of of discussion, because that's when it can start to become quite destructive to a young person's mental health and and. 

00:14:42 Leanne 

Their wealthy as well. 

00:14:44 John 

And especially they're looking at their teachers potentially as role models and so on. And I think I think that's a we're in a particular space as self and P teachers where we can influence kids a lot more than other teachers do, especially in this area and given that. 

00:15:00 John 

Like that, it's within our key lemonade as well. Listen, Leanne, thank you so much. It's been great of the chat and I look forward to hearing the talk you have with Megan as well was a bit different. And it's great to reconnect. 

00:15:15 Leanne 

You're very welcome. So thanks for having me. 

00:15:17 John 

Thank you.