Healthy eating

Press, 7 May 1986, Page 48

Healthy eating

“The aim of good nutrition is to try to be at the top of the cliff, not with the ambulance at the bottom.” This is the philosophy of Mrs Pamela Williams, chief dietitian at Christchurch Public Hospital and chairman of the Dietitian’s Board. Up until four years ago, Christchurch was served by a public health nurse — one of only four in the country. The nurse was not replaced after her death, Mrs Williams said, so the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Dietetic

Association had picked up the challenge to provide service to the range of community groups previously covered by her. Public education about what constitutes healthy eating is a top priority for dietitians.

“There is so much misinformation about that the family refrigerator has become the family medicine cupboard,” Mrs Williams said, and many women were unnecessarily concerned about what to feed their families.

“We see food as part of

a total lifestyle. We want people to enjoy food in their meals,” she said. Getting the information to the public was not easy, Mrs Williams said. "We’re dealing with experts — everyone is an expert about food. It makes the job that much harder.” The new health syllabus in schools incorporates nutrition and food for the first time, and dietitians are optimistic this knowledge will allow young people to evaluate the various claims of “alternative” therapies and diets.

Mrs Williams emphasised that while nutritionists and dietitians were the health professionals qualified to give nutrition education, they were not against alternative medicines or treatments so long as the

patient had checked out conventional medicine first. A recent development in Canterbury has been the setting up in private practice of four dietitians. Their services cover both clinical dietetics and food services administration.