Tuesday, February 2022
In the South East Queensland region the Healthy Eats program from Life Education Queensland is taking off with Nutritionist and Community Development Officer, Jaclyn.
Jaclyn started her role in January 2021 and has since visited many schools in the area to educate students about healthy eating habits, nutrition, and much more.
Learn more about Jaclyn in our Q & A below.
No two days are the same! In my Nutritionist role, I manage the delivery of the Healthy Eats program across Queensland. My day might involve developing nutrition resources for the program, working collaboratively with community partners, monitoring the impact of the program and supporting Kristina, our amazing Community Development Officer in North Queensland.
I also work as a Community Development Officer supporting schools in South East Queensland to implement the Healthy Eats program. A typical day might involve visiting schools face-to-face to discuss their healthy eating needs, delivering fun nutrition education sessions for students, running professional development workshops for teachers, or connecting schools with community partners to support healthy eating.
I love that everyone in the Healthy Eats team brings their unique expertise but we are all working towards the common goal of supporting children to lead healthy lives.
I enjoy sharing my love and knowledge of food and nutrition with the team and our Healthy Eats schools, and it’s so rewarding to see the positive changes we are supporting schools to achieve.
Health and nutrition education is important as it provides children with the knowledge, confidence and skills to make healthier choices. And every child deserves the opportunity to live a healthy and safe life!
The great thing about the Healthy Eats program is that it takes a whole-school approach to nutrition education, working with schools to implement initiatives that support healthy eating within the school environment and wider school community.
I would take grapes as they are my favourite fruit and I don’t think I could live without them! I would also take sweet potatoes as they are so versatile and they will taste delicious with any fish that I catch.
Plan ahead! It can be stressful deciding what to eat after a long busy day so I set aside some time each weekend to plan what I’m going to have for meals.
Having a plan helps me ensure I’m eating a variety of meals and stops me from grabbing takeaway on the way home. Planning ahead also helps me save money and reduce food wastage – win – win!
After some great lunchbox tips and ideas? Jaclyn has curated her top tips in ‘Healthy, kid-approved lunchbox snacks‘ and ‘Five top tips to navigate the school lunchbox‘.
