Stir It Up with ESOL students
Around the table were women from about ten nationalities hearing from dietitian and Healthy Cities Illawarra Health Promotion Officer Manami Henderson. Manami was asked to talk about healthy eating to students of English for speakers of other...
On Friday, March 17, I joined dietitian and Healthy Cities Illawarra health promotion officer Manami Henderson at an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class. Manami had been asked to talk about healthy eating to the students at Wollongong TAFE and around the table were women of about 10 different nationalities.
The convenor of the ESOL group was Jen Panucci, who has taught English for nearly 40 years. Participants in this group were of Thai, Vietnamese, African, Chinese, Arabic and European backgrounds, ranging in age from 30 to 70.
This talk was conducted under the auspices of Stir It Up, the Heathy Cities program that involves trained volunteers speaking about heathy eating in communities. Manami, Jen and I are all trained Stir It Up volunteers. Also in attendance was Vivien, another volunteer who is working on her PhD in eating disorders.
The session began with a practical exercise. Participants were asked to group foods into the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating's five food groups. Manami talked about the principles of eating foods from each category, the recommended portions and about heathy “snack” foods, such as dips with vegetables, nuts, yoghurt and even healthy leftovers.
We had a great discussion about breakfast foods and heard about the variety of food that we can eat for breakfast, if we think outside the cereal box. I spoke from my Australian cultural background about our packaged cereal breakfast culture and the downsides of some of these cereals, especially those high in sugar.
We heard about portion sizes and the concept of using your hand as a guide – the palm of the hand for the size of a meat portion, the fist for a serving of carbohydrate (e.g., pasta, rice) and the cupped hand for a serving of vegetables.
The take-home message was to be mindful of eating patterns and the principles of healthy eating, but equally important is to enjoy a healthy relationship with food, and sharing this with friends and family.
Read more about healthy eating here.
And a reminder about the Stir It Up program here.
