Ashlene Cahoon, Barry Carson and Greg Forsyth launching Eatright.eu.
Teenage survival guide to healthy eating, food safety and physical activity
A teenager’s gotta eat – and while it’s easy to opt for quick and often unhealthy options, a new resource could provide a speedy route to healthier choices for independent teens.
safefood and the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland today, launched a new interactive online survival guide to help Early School Leavers (ESL) learn skills in healthy eating and food safety.
‘Eatright.eu’ has been developed in partnership with educational trainers¹ across the island of Ireland and is the first free, online resource specifically designed with early school leavers in mind.
With as many as one in five teenagers leaving school early, there can be a negative impact on their longer-term health, as limited knowledge around healthy eating and physical activity is a contributory factor in poor nutrition and food behaviours.
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, Director, Human Health and Nutrition, safefood said: “We know from speaking with early school leavers that their diets and levels of physical activity are of real concern to them. ‘Eatright.eu’ was developed with the input of young people and their trainers and was piloted with them.
“Their input was vital as it helped shape the information on the website, how it is displayed to them and in an environment they’re familiar with. Learning about food is a lifelong skill and we hope this is something that young people will bring with them.”
Welcoming the resource, Jo Marley, Bryson Charitable Group, and chair of the Northern Ireland Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) Forum said, “The Voluntary and Community Sector Forum (NEET) concerns itself with all aspects of the impact on young people of not being engaged in education, employment or training.
“The Forum is therefore delighted that the much underestimated determinant of nutrition and exercise has been the subject of extensive research and we welcome this website which will be of tremendous value to all in this field.”
Sharon Gilmore, Head of Standards and Dietary Health at the FSA in NI said: “We have produced a range of resources for schools and young people in recent years – but haven’t worked with the ESL sector before. We’re delighted to have produced this great resource together with safefood and the NEET Forum. We are confident it will be really useful for young people.”
Gerry Griffin, National Co-ordinator of the Youthreach programme in the Republic of Ireland continued “This website is a great opportunity for our staff to deliver life skills training around food and hygiene, in a way that is engaging, empowering and relevant to the needs of young people in society. It does exactly that in a way that is clear, concise, structured and visually appealing to the students.”
Eatright.eu includes worksheets, team and individual projects, online games, videos and posters as well as and recipes. The programme complements nutrition-related curriculum in ESL settings in a way that meets the specific nutrition needs of this group, taking the range of abilities, literary and attendance aspects into account.
To find out more visit Eatright.eu For more educational resources on healthy eating and food safety visit www.safefood.eu or www.food.gov.uk/northern-ireland.
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