The Nutrition team work with colleagues and partners from across the voluntary, local authority and NHS sectors and liaise closely with Oral Health and Health Promotion teams. Our work is driven by local and national policy documents. We engage with local communities to empower and support healthier food choices, using a person centred approach and aim to improve knowledge, skills and access to resources and training around food and nutrition.
Community Nutrition
- Choose to Lose…and keep weight off for good!
- Choose To Lose @ Work
- Focus on your Family
- Community Food Development
- Maternal, Infant and Early Years Nutrition
- Food and Health Inequalities
- Food in Schools
- Workplace Nutrition
- Multi-Cultural Nutrition
- Nutrition Resources
Find out more about the work our team has been involved in over the past year:
Nutrition in the News
National Sugar Awareness Week – 30th Oct – 5th Nov 2017
Over the week Action on Sugar will be raising awareness of the health impacts of consuming excess sugar and calories and educating the public to help them consume less. As a nation we are consuming far too much sugar. Eating too much sugar can lead to tooth decay and can cause excess weight gain.
The government recommends that free sugars – sugars added to food or drinks, and sugars found naturally in honey, syrups, and unsweetened fruit juices shouldn’t make up more than 5% of the energy (calories) you get from food and drink each day. So adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day that’s equivalent to around seven sugar cubes. Children should be having even less.
- How does sugar in our diet affect our health – NHS Choices
- How to cut down on sugar in your diet – NHS Choices
- Sugar – BDA Factsheet
- Let’s be Food Smart – Get the Be Food Smart app and see how much sugar, saturated fat and salt is really inside your food and drinks.
Use FoodSwitch to see what’s in your shopping basket, and make better food choices when shopping for you and your family.
If you would like to get involved by running a Sugar Awareness Week event in your area or workplace, visit the ordering page to download and order some posters and leaflets.
New Resource – Foster Families – Eating Well
This resource offers nutritional guidance and support to carers of children in foster care across Forth Valley. Nutritional information for babies through to children in their late teens is provided with suggestions from foster carers on dealing with common problems such as food behaviours and issue.
New Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme launched
NHS Forth Valley’s Infant Feeding Co-ordinators launched a new Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme across Forth Valley which coincided with Scottish Breastfeeding Awareness Week.
A logo was developed and used to create window stickers and posters for staff to display in their healthcare facilities. Staff are being encouraged to be approachable and welcoming to mums wishing to breastfeed and also offering mums a suitable place to feed their baby, if they require this.
Several events were organised across the area to mark the start of this initiative and it is hoped that the scheme can be rolled out to other facilities across the area.
In addition to the clinical support provided by midwives and health visitors, mothers who choose to breastfeed are encouraged to attend Local Breastfeeding Groups run by health visitors. Local women will also be given copies of NHS Health Scotland’s resource ‘Off to a Good Start’ and encouraged to access the www.feedgood.scot website for further information.
For further information on this scheme or to order resources email Lesley Hetherington Community Dietitian / Infant Feeding Co-ordinator.
Community Food Activity Grants 2017-2018 – Now Available!
Our Health Improvement team are pleased to open this years small grant scheme. Grants of up to £200 are available for short term pieces of work and £400 for larger projects. Closing Date : 31st December 2017.
These grants are to support local food activities and initiatives across Forth Valley.
Free ‘Healthy Start’ Vitamins For ALL Pregnant Women!
Every pregnant women living in Scotland are now entitled to FREE healthy start vitamin tablets throughout the duration of their pregnancy.
The Healthy Start vitamins contain:
- Folic acid, which reduces the chances of babies having spina bifida
- Vitamin D, which helps mothers’ bodies absorb calcium, allowing babies’ bones to develop properly
- Vitamin C, which helps maintain healthy tissue in the body
More Information:-
- Ask your midwife for more information.
- Free vitamins for all pregnant women, BBC News, 31st March 2017.
- Visit Healthy Start for more information on the Healthy Start Scheme.
- Pregnancy Factsheet, British Dietetic Association, Food Factsheet.
Our Food Activities Celebration Event Was a Success!!
NHS Forth Valley’s Nutrition and Dietetic Health Improvement Team facilitated a celebration of Community Food Activities held at Camelon Community Project on the 21st February 2017. This event highlighted and shared the great work which is happening with food across the area. For more information on this event read our Food Celebration Report.
Choose To Lose @ Work
‘Encourage and support staff and colleagues in your workplace to make healthier lifestyle choices’
ChooseToLose@Work is an online resource to support people to set up simple weigh in sessions for staff and colleagues in their workplace. It offers a 10 week online programme to help people develop healthier eating habits and get more active. The webpage has links to downloadable resources, self monitoring worksheets, mobile apps, online quizzes and useful links.
ChooseToLose@Work encourages individuals to take personal responsibility for managing their own weight. It promotes self monitoring strategies such as regular weight checks, diary keeping and setting small, realistic and achievable goals. The online session plans can support co-ordinators who want to deliver simple weigh-and-go sessions as well as those who want to deliver more detailed information each week.
Community Nutrition in the Spotlight
Find out more about our nutrition agenda, who we work with and our main work strands:
