FOOD BITES
Nutrition Update Newsletter
Inside this issue:
www.dietetics.bham.nhs.uk
ISSUE #89 December 2012
Don’t Forget Change4Life!
Don’t Forget
Change4Life!
Healthy Choices
Award Scheme
Managing
Diabetes During
the Holiday
Season
Nutrition
Supporting children and their families to make improvements to their diet
and lifestyle can be a challenge and finding good quality, informative
resources can be
frustrating and time
consuming. This is where
Change4Life can help.
The Change4Life website
is full of simple, practical
information to promote
healthier lifestyle
behaviours for children,
adults and families. A
number of useful
resources are available to
be downloaded free of
charge either by health carers to use with individuals or by families
themselves. The following gives a taste of what is available for use with
children and families:
Support
Specialist Clinics
5 a Day
Smart ways to eat more fruit & vegetables
Launched
Sugar Swaps
Simple ways to eat less sugar
In Birmingham
Cut Back Fat
Practical ways of reducing fat in the family‟s
diet
Snack Check
Ideas to reduce unhealthy snacking
Meal Time
Suggestions to make time for meals
Me Size Meals
Advice on age appropriate portion sizes for
children
60 Active Minutes
Ideas on child friendly activities to keep them
active
There are meal planners, healthy recipes and even some cooking tips from
Ainsley Harriott! So the next time you‟re looking for healthy lifestyle
information don‟t forget to have a look at the Change4Life resources. Visit
www.nhs.uk/Change4Life to view what is available and register for regular
updates, recipes and tips.
FOOD BITES
Page 2
Healthy Choices Award Scheme
FoodNet is working in partnership with Birmingham City Council‟s
Environmental Health Team, to encourage and support as many local,
independent food outlets as possible, to offer and promote healthier food
choices to customers. This working project forms part of Birmingham‟s
Healthy Choices Award Scheme, funded by Birmingham‟s Public Health
since 2010.
A partnership with the Environmental Health Department of Birmingham City
Council, means that the award is only open to food businesses which have a
score of 2 or above, for the National Food Standards Agency - Food
Hygiene Rating Scheme.
Once they meet the required hygiene criteria, participating businesses can
achieve one of four levels. All businesses are assessed on the basis of the
range of healthier food choices available, including ingredients used and
cooking practices. A key criteria of the award is that the food outlet should
positively influence and „actively promote‟ the availability of healthier food
choices to customers.
The first award level begins with a “5-A-Day”, which can be awarded to any
food outlet providing and promoting at least two types of fruit and
vegetables.
To achieve a higher level award – Bronze, Silver or Gold – businesses are
assessed on the basis of set criteria. These are appropriate to the type of
premises and the availability to provide and promote healthier options
including reduced fat, sugar and salt food choices.
5-a-day
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Adrian Phillips, Director of Public Health for Birmingham, supports the need
to make healthier choices easier. “Obesity and poor diet are a growing
concern with serious health consequences; we are working to reduce the
growth in hot food takeaways and to support businesses to promote
healthier choices to customers”.
Since 2010, 206 businesses have been assessed across Birmingham, with
67 achieving 5-A-Day, 94 achieving Bronze, 33 Silver, and 12 Gold.
Look out for one of the following window stickers to see if your local food
outlet has got involved in the award scheme.
FOOD BITES
Page 3
Managing Diabetes During the
Holiday Season
Christmas is almost here and with a wealth of food and drink available it can
also be a trying time. Having the discipline to control your blood sugar levels
can be more difficult than usual. When willpower doesn‟t come easily, here
are some tips to enjoy your food and drink around Christmas, whilst keeping
control of your blood glucose.
Plan ahead– it‟s very easy to get carried away over the festive
season; to prevent this from happening plan your meals, snacks and
drinks and stick to it! Having a pudding after Christmas dinner is fine,
just watch the portion size!
Include lots of vegetables with your Christmas dinner –
vegetables are the staple of sensible eating; they fill you up and will
not affect your blood glucose. Aim to fill 1/3 to ½ of your plate with
vegetables. Good examples include: Brussels sprouts, broccoli,
cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and spring greens.
Avoid feeling hungry for too long – if the meal is taking too long to
prepare then snack on protein and/or non-starchy vegetable based pre
-meal snacks e.g. carrot, pepper and celery sticks with salsa. These
are a good choice as they are filling and slowly broken down.
Have a glass of water before eating – this will make you feel full
earlier and helps to reduce your appetite.
Alcohol – men should drink no more than 3-4 units a day (around 2
pints of standard strength beer) and women no more than 2-3 units (1
175 – 250mls glass). Alternate alcoholic drinks with diet soft drinks or
water to reduce your alcohol intake and help combat dehydration.
Alcohol can lower blood glucose levels, therefore, do not drink on an
empty stomach, and if taking any medication that can cause
hypoglycaemia, have a starchy snack before bed e.g. slice of toast or
banana.
Don’t feel guilty about turning down food and drink – feeling
stuffed is an unpleasant feeling, and will result in high blood glucose
levels. Listen to your body, and stop eating when you are feeling full.
Go for a winter walk –A 20 minute walk in the crisp air is enough to
increase endorphins and serotonin which can help to overcome the
cravings and give a sense of well being. This can also help to lower
blood glucose levels, especially if they are out of optimal target range.
Certain medications can lower blood glucose levels, therefore, be
sensible in the self management of your diabetes – use blood
glucose monitoring if you use insulin therapy.
Have a wonderful season of holiday eating!
Nutrition Support Specialist Clinics
Launched in Birmingham
As part of service redesign to improve accessibility and efficiency, the
nutrition support service is now piloting three nutrition support specialist
clinics across Birmingham.
The clinics are designed to be used by patients who are not bedbound and
needing oral or enteral nutritional support advice, for example individuals
with progressive neurological conditions, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease or oncology patients.
Initially 3 clinics covering the following areas listed are to be piloted. These
are:
Karis Clinic: Ladywood, Edgbaston, Hockley, City Centre, Norman
Power Unit
Stockland Green Clinic: Erdington, Witton, Perry Common,
Boldmere, Kingstanding, Tyburn, North Nechells/Aston.
Moseley Hall Hospital clinic: Moseley, Kings Heath, Selly Park/Selly
Oak, Balsall Heath, Sparkbrook, East Sparkhill, Billesley, Highgate,
Stirchley
Providing an accessible service remains a top priority, and therefore
patients who are either bedbound or require hospital transport to get to
appointments will still be offered a home visit. Individuals who do not live in
the areas surrounding the clinic location will continue to be offered a clinic
appointment with the primary care team, with the option of specialist input
from the nutrition support service if necessary.
There may be future potential to form multidisciplinary clinics, for example,
nutrition support merging with existing specialist clinics who deal with the
same vulnerable patients. Please send any comments or suggestions you
may have to Janet Gordon, Nutrition Support Team Leader
[email protected]
Merry Christmas and
a Fantastic New Year
to all!
Birmingham Community Nutrition
Fernbank Surgery, 508-516 Alum Rock Road, Ward End, B8 3HX
Tel: 0121 465 2785 Fax: 465 2776
Springfields Centre, Raddlebarn Road, Selly Oak, B29 6JB
Tel: 0121 466 3390 Fax: 466 3391
St. Patrick‟s Centre for Community Health, Frank Street, Highgate, B12 0YA
Tel: 0121 446 1021 Fax: 446 1020
If you have any comments or queries regarding Food Bites, please contact the editor
Laura Haden at Fernbank Medical Centre
You can access back issues of Food Bites at www.dietetics.bham.nhs.uk