ACT Nutrition Support Service

🎉 Feeding Healthy Futures: Toddlers! 🎉

Our FREE Feeding Healthy Futures sessions are back, and this time, we're talking all things toddlers! 👶

Perfect for parents of little ones around 12 months old, this program is designed to help you navigate the shift to family foods, establish healthy habits, handle fussy eating, and foster a positive relationship with food. 🥕🍉🫛

Over three weeks, you'll join us for weekly one-hour sessions packed with practical tips and interactive discussions. This is a fantastic opportunity to get your food-related questions answered by our expert dietitians! Plus, you’ll receive a complimentary Feeding Healthy Futures booklet and toddler engagement kit to take home. 🥣

Eligibility:
1️⃣ Parents with children born between May and December 2023
2️⃣ No prior participation needed

Let's work together to emphasize the importance of nutrition right from the start!

Find program details, dates, and booking info on our website or through the link in our bio! 💕👶

🍽️ Two weeks of Spring School Holiday Cooking Classes. Bookings now open!

You asked, we delivered. Our popular cooking classes for kids aged 8-12 years will be running for 2 whole weeks over the spring school holidays. 🌸

Led by our expert dietitian facilitators, your child will enjoy hands-on cooking sessions in our fully-equipped food skills kitchen.

🗓️ Dates: 30 September to 11 October
⏰ Time: 9am - 12noon each week day
💰 Cost: $80 per session
🌟 Early Bird Special: Book before 13 September and enjoy a 10% discount!

These classes fill up fast, so don’t miss out! Secure your child's spot today and let them discover the joy of cooking and healthy eating. 🍎👩‍🍳

Book now 👉 https://www.trybooking.com/CULLC

Getting close to veg with play and positive food exploration in our FEED program for 3-5 year olds. This week we explored carrots 🥕 😋.

Join us for our third stage, Toddlers! Designed to support parents of little ones aged around 12 months, we will walk you through the transition to family foods, building healthy habits, managing fussy eating, and growing positive relationships with food.

Your group will meet weekly at across three weeks, for a one hour session. Our sessions are hands-on, and a great chance to ask our dietitians any questions about all things food-y! You will also receive a free Feeding Healthy Futures booklet and toddler engagement kit to take home.🥣

Eligibility:
1️⃣ Parents who’s child was born between May-December 2023
3️⃣ No prior participation required

Help us to raise awareness of the importance of good nutrition, starting right from the first 1,000 days!

Program information, dates, and booking information can be found at our website: https://actnss.org/events/ 💕👶

Eating well during night shifts can be challenging 🥱. Yesterday, our senior dietitian, Leanne Elliston shared some valuable tips on ABC Canberra radio's Sunday Brunch program to help night shifters stay nourished and energized.
🎙️Listen to the interview here:
https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Sun-Aug-11-2024.mp3
🍏Want more tips? Check out our fact sheet 👇
https://actnss.org/resources/nutrition-for-shift-workers

Great to be at the launch of the Meals in School pilot today with the kindy kids at Richardson Primary School.
We are looking forward to working with the ACT Government and Embrace Disability Group over the next 12 months to ensure meals provided to students attending each of the five pilot school are nutritious, balanced and enjoyable. 🍏🥕❤
Click on the link below to hear more about our involvement in the pilot program on todays ABC Canberra radio interview with our senior dietitian Leanne Elliston 🎙️👇.
https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ABC-Tue-Jul-30-2024.mp3

Our FEED team had fun at the Grug production, picking up some more inspiration for our food play program. Grug loved his 🍎 and growing 🥕🥬.

We chopped, grated and rolled our way through another terrific week of holiday cooking last week. Dishes included fresh garden herb infused chicken nuggets, steamed pork dumplings and pasta of various shapes and sizes. Such a joy seeing the creativity and excitement as everyone explored new textures and flavors while learning essential cooking skills. Spring onion ends were planted in the garden to harvest for our next holiday cooking sessions in spring.

Attention parents of picky eaters!
If your child is reluctant to try new food, super selective with food and lacking in diet variety the FEED program is here to help!
Our FREE positive food exposure program for 3-5 year olds is jointly facilitated by an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Play Therapist. Each session progressively explores a range of vegetables using therapeutic play and responsive eating practices.
Our 8-week program for Term 3 kicks off thursday 1 August from 10am - 11am at the Chifley Health Hub.
Learn more and register here:
https://www.trybooking.com/CSRBT
FEED is supported by the ACT Government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program

From falafels to fatayas. Each day last week we cooked up a storm during our youth cooking workshops with . Our fatayas included spinach, carrot, feta and some fresh picked herbs from the garden. Everyone got to make their very own unique flavours and designs. So creative and of course very yum!😋

Feeding Healthy Futures is a healthy eating group program for new parents, designed to support parents and their children achieve their best health over their child’s first 1000 days. Facilitated by Accredited Practising Dietitians, this program will help you navigate your child’s food and nutrition needs during the three most crucial stages of their first 1000 days.

Join us for our third stage, Toddlers! Designed to support parents of little ones aged around 12 months, we will walk you through the transition to family foods, building healthy habits, managing fussy eating, and growing positive relationships with food.

Sessions are now open to all CBR families who’s child was born between May-December 2023!

To register, visit our website at: https://actnss.org/events/

Calling all ACT school canteen managers, assistants and volunteers. We want to hear from you!

Share with us how your canteen is doing and what kind of assistance or support you need.

Take just 7 minutes to complete our survey, and you'll enter the draw to win a Tefal Prize Pack!

Your insights are important to us and will help shape future services and support for ACT school canteens.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PDKLLPD

Registrations now open!

We are excited to announce that registrations are now officially open for our third and final phase of Feeding Healthy Futures: TODDLERS!

Together we will explore the transition to family foods, building healthy eating habits, supporting a positive relationship with food, and yes, preventing and managing fussy eating behaviours!

To register, visit our website at: https://actnss.org/events/

Dates and times:
- Gungaderra Homestead: 2nd-16th August at 10-11am

-Coombs Community centre: 20th August – 3rd September at 5:30-6:30pm

-Belconnen Library: 13th-27th September at 10:30-11:30am

-Chifley Health Hub: 4th-18th October at 9:30-10:30am

Not a dry eye in the room at the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm Celebration of recent program participants, held today. We are honoured to be involved in this incredible program, sharing good food to help with healing. Our very own Cara spoke today about some amazing connections among the participants as she shared her foodie wisdom whilst learning so much from everyone taking part. Big shout out to Charmaine for her incredible leadership of the program.

This week our executive officer Leanne Elliston shared the ABC Canberra radio desk with her counterpart, Kirsty Elliot, from Nutrition Australia Qld to highlight the urgent need for nationally recognised nutrition standards with access to nutrition support in early childhood education and care settings.
If you missed the interview, be sure to listen here:
https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ABC-Radio-Mon-Jun-24-2024.mp3

Yesterday was a big day!

Starting with a cracking radio interview with our buddy Kirsty from , we then ventured on to Parliament House for the event where our EO Leanne Elliston spoke on the importance of nutrition in the first 2000 days highlighting the need for nationally recognised standards for food quality in early childhood education and care settings.

Great to be working with the National Nutrition Network-ECEC and calling for equitable access to nutrition support for all early childhood services across the country.

What a privilege to join forces with Dietitians Australia and Nutrition Australia Qld with the National Nutrition Network - Early Childhood Education and Care highlighting the crucial need for nationwide nutrition regulation and associated support to ensure ALL children get the best start in life.
Our very own Leanne Elliston delivered a powerful presentation on advocating equitable access to nutrition services and support in the early childhood education and care sector.
A great opportunity to highlight some of the great early childhood programs and initiatives we have delivered here in the ACT .
We can level the playing field by providing children with better access to healthy food during their critical developmental years. It's time for all levels of government to step up!
Thanks Senator Helen Polley and Bridget Archer MP - Liberal Member for Bass for your incredible support.

📢The results are in!

✨We're so excited to start sharing the results of our Nourishing Little Minds in Early Childhood program with you all! 🍏🥕

The NLM ECEC program was rolled out across the ACT between 2021-2023, with 83 training sessions reaching over 1,000 early childhood educators! 🎉

More details to be released following the upcoming Dietitians Australia conference so watch this space 👀

If you'd like to receive NLM training for your centre, head over to our website to learn more: https://actnss.org/services/early-childhood/nourishing-little-minds/

Big hats off to an incredible lady, Debbie Tobin, who is hanging up her apron after dedicating 34 years of service to local school canteens. Many who have worked or volunteered in school canteens across Canberra would know Debbie for her incredible hard work, passion and committment for providing a source of nourishment for many 1000's of school students over the years.
We are so grateful for Debbie's on-the-ground support for healthier school canteens providing incredible insight into the running of successful AND healthy canteens. We wish her the very best in her retirement.
❤️

🍎 Hey early childhood educators! Want to get your children in your centre excited about healthy eating? 🌽 Look no further than Nourishing Little Minds®️, the professional development program designed specifically for Early childhood educators! 👩‍🏫

🫛 The NLM®️ training is designed to deliver professional development training for EC educators who are passionate about supporting the development of healthy eating habits and positive food relationships in children aged 0-5 years. Our training aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework, and comes with both a physical and digital copy of our jam-packed manual to support your team to implement their new skills. 📖

🍉Our refresher workshop is aimed at centres who have previously completed the NLM®️ training, but might have taken on new educators since, or those that just want to brush up their skills! 💪

Learn more here:
https://actnss.org/services/early-childhood/nourishing-little-minds/

Hey Foodie Families!
Our Kids Cooking Classes are back for the winter school holidays. 👧👦
📆 Mark your calendars and check out the recipes! Vegetarian and gluten free options available.
🔥 Hurry, though! Class sizes are strictly limited, and spaces fill up fast. Secure your spots before it's too late! 🚀
🎟️ Book by June 21st for your 10% Early Bird Discount! 🐦
Visit our website to learn more and book now:
https://actnss.org/event/schoolholidaycookingwinter2024/

Canberra, it's getting cold out there. Time to dust off the slow cooker and get into some serious comfort food goodness. But hang on! Doesn't cooking vegies for a long time reduce their nutritional value?
Today our senior dietitian, Leanne Elliston, busted some myths and shared her tips on enjoying slow cooked goodness on ABC Canberra radio with Georgia Stynes.
Check out the interview here:
https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ABC-Canberra-Tue-May-28-2024.mp3

Calling all Early Childhood Educators!

Have you completed your Food Allergen Management Training Course? It's FREE, and such an important way that you can promote the safety of children in your care.

Check out the details below!

The updated Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in children’s education and care (CEC) recommends that all staff responsible for preparing and serving food should undertake our FREE All about Allergens for CEC online food allergen management training at least every two years.

Take the short training course now 👉 https://ow.ly/Tyw850ROleg

Download the updated Best practice guidelines for anaphylaxis prevention and management in CEC 👉 https://ow.ly/eXCn50ROlef

Introducing the FEED team! We are thrilled to be working with Play Therapists, Nicky and Michael, on our new positive food exposure program for children and young people.
Funded by the ACT Government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program, the FEED program uses food play and experiential learning to help children build a positive relationship with food and overcome barriers to eating well.
Our 8-week FEED programs will run each term until the end of 2025, tailored for children and young people residing in the ACT. Visit our website to learn more: https://actnss.org/services/community-services/fuelling-everybody-every-day-feed/

How safe is your food at home?
Today our senior dietitian, Leanne Elliston, had a great chat with Kate Midena on ABC Canberra addressing golden rules for preventing food poisoning, covering everything from handling leftovers to safe defrosting methods and avoiding cross-contamination.
How often can you reheat your leftovers?
Ans: ONCE!
Check out the recording here: https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ABC-Canberra-Sun-May-05-2024.mp3

Is your child:
- reluctant to try new food
- selective about food due on consistency, appearance, taste, smell -and /or temperature.
- lacking in diet variety
- uninterested in food or eating?

The FEED program is here to help!
FEED is a positive food exposure program led by Accredited Practising Dietitians and Play Therapists, guiding children and caregivers in exploring vegetables creatively to boost vegetable exposure and improve nutrition in families.

Our 8 week program for Term 2 kicks off next thursday 9 May from 10am - 11am at the Chifley Health Hub.

Learn more and register here:
https://www.trybooking.com/CQTKD

FEED is supported by the ACT Government under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program

Another terrific week of school holiday adventures is done and dusted. We gathered garden produce and experimented with different fillings for our ravioli among loads of other foodie adventures.
So wonderful seeing children try new foods and get excited over their finished products. Well done everyone - you are all amazing little chefs.

Kids continue to struggle to meet their fruit and veg needs and access to affordable healthy food is challenging. There has never been a more important time for ACT Government to step up and carry through with their promised Meals at Schools pilot program and nutrition support for schools and school canteens. These are some of the pressing issues our EO Leanne Elliston addressed on ABC Canberra radio this morning. Check out the interview here:
https://actnss.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ABC-Canberra-Radio-LE-Wed-Apr-17-2024.mp3