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You Are What You Eat

Seven years ago the Health Promotion Unit of the Department of Health and Children in conjunction with the Community Dietetic Service of the HSE launched a pilot programme called Food and Nutrition in Blanchardstown. The success of the programme has seen it expanded into other parts of the country in the intervening period.

Now called Healthy Food Made Easy (HFME) the programme continues to grow and recently another group of successful participants received their certificates at a ceremony in Blanchardstown Area Partnership’s (BAP) headquarters in Dillon House in Coolmine.

The programme involves six two and a half hour sessions which train the participants to become Peer Leaders. During the course they learn how to make healthy food choices and cook healthy meals.

The most recent group, who received their certificates from Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD, have already started delivering programmes to parent groups in Castaheany National School and St Philip’s National School in Mountview. Course will also be presented by these newly trained leaders to the Homestart programme, Respond and the Tolka River project over the next few weeks.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Nazih Eldin, Head of Health promotion with HSE North East, said “the project is very simple and effective. We train people to help others to help themselves and in this way we build up the capacity of the community. We have hospitals, doctors and dieticians to look after about 10% of our population, but who is looking after the other 90% to keep them healthy and out of hospital? We must strengthen the community and keep them healthy rather than just deal with illness.”

Welcoming the Minister to the event, Catherine Durkin, Education Co-ordinator with BAP, said “these are rough times for us all and the Partnership has a very important role to play. We have unrivalled experience in dealing with unemployment so I hope we will not be a target for an Bórd Snip.”

The Minister reassured her that “you will be safe for at least another year!”

Having given a brief description of the contents of his own fridge and kitchen cabinets, he said he was “delighted to note that healthy living and healthy eating are still very much in vogue despite the current economic climate.” He noted that “focus on health and nutrition has attracted so many theorists and quite a few crackpots. But the bottom line is that if we focus on food that is close to nature such as fruit and vegetables and nuts we will be much healthier.”

Deirdre Quinlan, co-ordinator of the programme in Dublin 15 offered a more holistic summary suggesting that “what we eat and take into our bodies has a huge effect on us - physically, emotionally and spiritually.”