21 May 2014
Education and whole food nutrition the answer
The link between diet and health is not rocket science, but plain common sense; education and a real understanding of
what the body needs is the key. The answer to the problem of childhood obesity epidemics lies in eating more natural
whole foods and rejecting processed food jam-packed with sugars and additives.
In announcing Sir Peter Gluckman's appointment to co-chair the newly formed World Health Organisation Commission to end
Childhood Obesity, WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan, and Sir Peter said the "solutions to obesity and its
co-morbidities are complex."
However, educating children and their parents is a massive step forward and the perfect place to start in the fight
against childhood obesity. If enough young people in New Zealand get a decent education in what constitutes good
nutrition, much of this country's problem will disappear; and we already have an excellent tool that can be used by
parents, teachers and health professionals to achieve just that.
Grow Me Well, written by Dee and Tamarin Pignéguy, and published by boutique publishers, Papawai Press, makes avoiding
childhood obesity simple. It provides all the nutritional know-how and body science needed to help families avoid the
obesity epidemic.
Although it was written with teenagers in mind it is a book for the whole family. Accurate and fully researched
nutritional and body science is presented in an easy-to-read format, supported by brilliant, colourful and quirky
illustrations.
Food technology teacher, Wendy Slatter says of the book, "New Zealand-authored nutrition books of this genre are rare: I
would go so far as to say this is the best book to support New Zealand nutrition education that I have seen."
Grow Me Well explains the nutritional requirements of the human body, investigates the digestive tract and all its inner
workings, examines the impact of various food groups on the health and growth of the body, and covers issues such as
insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity.
"In short," says author, Dee Pignéguy, "it provides our children with information about food and how it impacts their
bodies and their health. Grow Me Well enables parents and children to make better food choices."
ENDS