Striving to provide the latest research in children's nutrition.

Workshop 1: Targets Children 3-5 years

In this workshop, we examine how parents and child care staff can assist in establishing healthy nutritional habits for children in preschool and kindergarten years.

This workshop is designed to facilitate discussions on Quality Standards 2.1 and 2.2.

Session Outcomes

At the end of the session you will learn about:

The importance of Breakfast
Food Pyramid
What are food additives?
How much fruit and vegetables to eat. (3 to 5 years of age).
How to read food labels in supermarkets.
Children's allergies.
Dairy and nut free foods.
Children's lunch boxes.
Foods to avoid.
Lifestyle, children and exercise.

Maximum group size: 30. Includes question time.

Workshop 2: Targets Adolescents 11-15 years

In this workshop, we evaluate the importance of physical activity and balanced nutrition for the adolescent years.

This workshop is designed to provide information to parents and educators on the importance of good nutrition and active play in adolescents.

Adolescence is signified by rapid changes in growth. We are seeing an increasing prevalence of obesity in children and young adolescents related to lack of physical activity and suboptimal diet.

Factors contributing to lack of physical activity include increased T.V, computer and internet access, reduced time for physical activity at school, and poor eating habits.

Session Outcomes

At the end of the session you will learn about:

Growth and changes in body composition for the adolescent.
Energy requirements, physical activity and obesity.
Obesity in adolescence.
Calcium and peak bone mass.
Iron Deficiency anaemia.

Maximum group size: 30. Includes question time.

Workshop 3: Allergies and Children

This workshop is designed to provide information to parents and educators on allergies, how to detect and treat them, and anaphylaxis.

In this session we will look at allergies and how prevalent they are in children.

At the end of the session you will learn about classic presentations of food allergies in children.

An itchy rash ( hives)
Swelling of the lips/eyes.
Vomiting
Abdominal pain.
Diarrhoea.
If breathing or circulation is affected, this is called anaphylaxis, which is a life threating allergic reaction.

Maximum group size: 30. Includes question time.

Workshop 4: Food Additives

This workshop is designed to provide information to parents and educators on food preservatives.

"Increase in toxic chemicals around the world have impacted on the increased neurodevelopmental dysfunction and behavioural problems." (Lantz, 2009)

In this session we will look at food preservatives. Preservatives maintain the shelf life of all processed and packaged foods.

Over the years we as individuals our starting to question what is inside our food and the impact on our children and the environment. There are about 1600 artificial flavourings that are in our food supply. Some have not gone through safety testings to see if they may cause allergies or intolerances.

At the end of the session you will learn about:

Common food preservatives in foods
The importance of reading food labels
How additives affect our children. Is behaviour linked to food additives?
How to be a conscious consumer.
Choosing natural alternatives to cleaning and beauty products for the family.

Maximum group size: 30. Includes question time.