Whether you are the lucky person hosting Christmas dinner this year or not, chances are your fridge will be filled to almost overflowing over Christmas and New Year.…
Have you ever sat down to eat something in front of the TV and then wondered what happened to it? Have you suddenly realised you didn’t even taste…
Osteoporosis is a silent disease affecting more than half of women and nearly a third of men over the age of 60 in New Zealand. World Osteoporosis day…
Arthritis week this year starts on the 21st September. According to the Arthritis New Zealand website more than half a million New Zealanders will have arthritis in their…
A vegetarian diet can be very healthy, but care needs to be taken to achieve a well balanced diet to ensure an adequate intake of nutrients. In a…
Many studies have supported the evidence that vegetarians have a lower risk for developing health issues such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and diet related cancers. Overall vegetarians…
We have all heard the message that we need to reduce our fat intake. Fat is the most calorie dense nutrient we can eat with each gram providing…
How many times have you blamed your weight on your metabolic rate? A sentence that I hear quite frequently is “I think I have a slow metabolism”. But…
Worried about your tummy and the funny things it does? You are not alone. While there can be many causes for different gut symptoms one of the conditions…
Do you need a cup of coffee to get going in the morning, or as a “pick me up” in the afternoon? You will not be alone. Caffeine may be…
For some people the thought of dried beans and legumes is not appealing or perhaps the challenge of getting other family members to try something so different just…
School lunches may be something that we all hate having to prepare each morning. However school holidays can often bring different challenges.
Christmas comes at the time of year when we are moving into lovely warm weather which tends to mean most of us will get into shorts, tee shirts…
Often, the first sign that you have osteoporosis is that you break a bone. Osteoporosis has no symptoms and the disease offers its victims no warning until it is…
Recently the Cancer Society held its annual ‘Daffodil Day’. Cancer affects 1 in 3 New Zealanders. While we can never guarantee that a certain lifestyle will prevent cancer…
I recently got a new mobile phone. While I was still trying to work out how to make a phone call, my 11-year-old daughter had worked out how…
Do you often think that others can manage their weight without having to put in half the effort that you do? Sometimes it seems like some people never…
It seems that one minute none of us had heard of swine flu and the next minute it was a significant world wide issue. As I write this…
If you are a mother with young children at home then chances are you will feel that often your day revolves around meal times and food. No sooner…
Many occupations require people to carry out shift work. You may work in a hospital, police or ambulance service, transport industry or a factory.
If you are a mother with young children at home then chances are you will feel that often your day revolves around meal times and food. No sooner…
Many of us set New Year resolutions. You will not be alone if one of your resolutions focuses on weight loss. A search on Google confirms that weight…
With our growing obesity problem in New Zealand we have seen the introduction of a number of food guidelines being issued to schools. This has included advising parents…
We are all becoming more aware of where our money goes. Trying to reduce food costs is a goal for everyone. Although everyone is trying to shop smarter and…
People often ask can toddlers help in the kitchen and the answer is a resounding Yes! As we know toddlers and preschoolers often want to be with you…
With rising food costs many people are looking at what and how they eat. Even popping into the supermarket for a small shop seems to hit the wallet…
We don’t need the media to alert us to the fact that the cost of living is going up, we can all see that our money does not…
Over the school holidays our girls spent a lovely week in Dunedin with Donal’s sister and her family. While they did many fun things (such as visiting the…
The school term is about to get under way, and we are about to get back into the school lunch box routine. It is a well known fact that what…
If you worry about whether your child is eating enough and whether the amount they eat is normal, you are not alone. Many parents feel uncertain about what…
Life with children is always busy and planning meals, preparing food, and then getting the little darlings to eat it can take up big chunks of your precious…
Christmas has always been a family time for me and it certainly holds many special memories. As a child it never seemed to come around quickly enough, now…
October the 18th was Love Your Body Day — it was a chance to celebrate the fact that all women are beautiful. It is a celebration of women and…
Dietary iron is something we all need but women, children and teenagers commonly eat less iron than they need. In New Zealand it is estimated that about 42%…
Earlier this year I was invited to be the nutrition judge for a competition for our local restaurants. Our local paper (the Bay of Plenty Times) along with…
Unfortunately, when it comes to our teeth, we’re not like sharks – we don’t have 3 rows of teeth and we can’t grow a new one if we lose…
One of our many important roles as a parent or caregiver is to help our children foster and develop good eating habits and attitudes to food from a…
It is a generalisation, but it can be very hard to get a man to address any health concerns early on. The attitude of ‘she’ll be right’ seems…
We all know that teenagers can be difficult to feed – one day they’re starving and nearly eat you out of house and home, and the next they…
Family food gatherings may be a time for giving, but there’s one thing you don’t want to give your family or your guests – and that’s food poisoning.…
Do you frequently look for new recipes or do you stick with the same recipes you always use? Could some of your favourite recipes do with a makeover?…
Childhood obesity is becoming a big problem in New Zealand, as it is in most Western countries. The National Children’s Nutrition Survey, carried out in 2002, showed that…
The return to the school term routine presents a good time to reflect on how meal times in your household work. Here’s some of my key tips to…