How we can help your school

Any parent or individual responsible for the nutrition of a child, has to combat a complex barrage of marketing techniques used by food manufacturers. At Diet Specialist we work to support parents and schools to make informed decisions about the nutrition of their children and ensure that they are being provided with what they need at each stage of their development. 
 
We provide various seminars, talk, and workshops for schools aiming to meet healthy schools standards and guidelines and we can provide lectures directly to parents as to what they should be doing. These seminars will be fun and interactive, with simple techniques to help parents make food more interesting and colourful and ideas that can be incorporated into a lunchbox. More specifically our services can be distilled into five key areas:
 
  1. Lectures and seminars for parents and school staff
  2. One to one consultation with parents and children who are particularly overweight
  3. Shopping receipt analysis for parents and the production of a detailed report.
  4. E-mail fact sheets to teachers and parents.
  5. A question and answer service.
  6. Canteen consultations and food labelling tours.
 
Lectures and seminars

 

Eating for more than two - how to help your children stay health
The cause of unhealthy eating can often be because of the food preferences of the children in a family, rather than those of the parents. With food manufacturers focusing large budgets on marketing to children, parents can often be left confused as to what foods they should buy. In this session, we will provide parents with clear advise on the nutritional needs of their children, at each stage of their life. We will provide practical techniques for how parents can make their children’s food more interesting and colourful, catering to most fussy children. In addition we will provide advice on sweeteners, colourings and E-numbers and how they affect children’s behaviour, so that parents can build a happy family environment that will then filter back into the school.
 
The science behind nutrition in one digestible session
In this seminar, we will apply our six step science based approach to provide a thorough and comprehensive understanding of nutrition. The seminar will highlight the key issues around dieting, covering the different types of diets and what needs to be considered for those who have special needs. We will explore lifestyle choices that affect our diet and how to increase our metabolism. In addition we will highlight the major nutritional myths that are currently being purported and explore how food is currently labelled so as to help parents distinguish marketing from fact. The session will be an interactive and educational session where parents will be taught how to make informed decisions about what they eat in one digestible session. 
 
 You are what you eat, but what am I eating? An explanation of food labels
Food labels can be very confusing and with food manufacturers constantly releasing new terminology and marketing claims, parents are often left bemused about what food choices they should make. In this seminar we will help you navigate all of this information and provide clear and accurate advice about food labeling. We will explain what the key labeling terms means and examine marketing terminology such low fat, light and no added sugar. We will scrutinise what the different additives in food mean and review the effectiveness of supplements such as vitamin tablets and protein shakes. Based on extensive experience of explaining food labeling, this lecture will provide extremely useful and practical advice for the next time they head out food shopping. 
 
 
One to one consultations
This is one of our primary service and can be offered to parents and their children on the site of the school, during school hours. We can ensure minimal disruption, by limiting the consultation to a 20 minute weekly session and provide the parent and child with the support they need to stay healthy. In each consultation, we will provide:
 
  • Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, body frame check, and full body measurement).
  • Body Mass Index check
  • Metabolic rate assessment to establish if you have a slow or a fast metabolism.
  • A full analysis of their current food intake, through examining their shopping receipt. See [here] for more details
  • Ideal weight assessment. 
  • Individual diet and lifestyle check and plan supported by educational materials. 
  • Motivation, counselling, encouragement and support with regular follow ups. 
 
We will then apply our six step approach as per [this link] to help your staff reach their optimal weight.
 
Shopping receipt analysis report
Where parents are not keen on a one-to-one consultation, they can still gain detailed nutritional advice from something as simple as their shopping receipt. Through our extensive knowledge of shopping food labelling and our nutritional information database, we can assemble a low cost report that provides a detailed summary of the food purchased by parents. In this report we will show:
  1. The top five and bottom five foods in terms of calories, saturated fat, sugars, salt, protein and fibre.
  2. We will provide a summary of the number of additives contained in the food.
  3. We will identify which foods could potentially cause allergies.
  4. We will identify how many countries the food has been purchased from, to help parents reduce their carbon footprint.
  5. We will then summarise this information and also provide a separate report which provides a more comprehensive analysis of all the products purchased.
 
E-mail fact sheets to send to parents
With the number of diets currently available in the market, it is easy for parents to receive mixed messages about how they should eat healthily. At Diet Specialist we have developed a six step science based approach that helps individuals navigate this information and filter out the science from the marketing. As a quick and easy tool to help parents and their children stay healthy, we can provide six attractive e-mails that educate parents about nutrition and provides them with practical tips on how to stay healthy.
 
 
A question and answer service
It is difficult to obtain accurate nutritional advice, given the constant barrage of marketing claims about what diet is healthiest. In the NHS, doctors will employ Registered Dieticians to work alongside doctors to understand patients dietary needs. Many slimming organisations are not run by dieticians. Some are run by nutritionists who are not required to have any clinical experience and others are run by celebrities. At Diet Specialist, our question and answer service is run either by a Registered Dietician or a Medical Doctor with the appropriate specialist training. This will ensure that parents receive accurate advice.
 
 
Canteen consultation and food labelling tours
The food provided by your school will have a significant impact on the children’s health and well being. We can work with your canteen staff and food suppliers to assess the foods being consumed at your workplace and understand the nutritional value of this food. We can then advise your staff on either substitute products for each of the ingredients being used or healthy alternatives to the current menu provided.