Bringing you the latest nutrition research and food ideas to help boost your health and wellbeing.

Happy New Year

The team at NAQ would like to welcome everyone to 2020! Our office is now open for the year and we look forward to sharing more healthy eating inspiration with you throughout the year! Our goal for 2020 is to continue to provide our members and community with practical and current information to make your journey of healthy eating easy and enjoyable.

Latest Research

Nutrition information in pregnancy: Where do women seek advice and has this changed over time?

The results of a recent study have been published in the Nutrition & Dietetics: Journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia. This study (1) aimed to identify where women source their nutrition information during pregnancy and also assess the accuracy of nutrition information for pregnancy that is available on the internet. Nutrition during pregnancy is fundamental to both the health of the mother and her baby. Sources of nutrition‐related information are available via many sources but their accuracy is unknown.

Key Findings

The main source of nutrition information for a variety of topics was verbal communication from health professionals
There was an increasing trend in internet sourced information for most nutrition topics, but this source remained low for iodine
The internet was the main source of information for listeria/food safety and healthy eating
Of the 165 websites identified by the content analysis, 82.4% were rated as accurate, with government and business/company sites having the highest accuracy

Conclusions

It was concluded that verbal communication from health professionals remains the most important source of nutrition information for pregnancy. The high credibility of websites indicates this to be an additional resource. Further study into health literacy levels among women visiting these sites is needed to assess impact on dietary behaviour.

How can NAQ Nutrition help? We have a a resource on weight gain during pregnancy available on our website that provides useful information on the topic. Another great website to check out is Pregnancy, Birth and Baby, as well as Queensland Health's website looking at what to expect during pregnancy.

Reference: 1. Lobo S, Lucas CJ, Herbert JS, et al. Nutrition information in pregnancy: Where do women seek advice and has this changed over time? Nutrition & Dietetics. 2019; 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12589

Recipe Idea

Cracker Toppings

Looking for ways to spice up the humble cracker? Here are a few healthy ideas to consider when making crackers for a quick and easy lunch or snack!

Check out our Instagram account for more food inspiration from the NAQ Nutrition team!

Crackers
- Rye crackers/crispbread
(e.g. Ryvita, Rye Cruskits)
- Wholegrain or multigrain
crackers/crispbread (e.g. Vita-Weat)
- Plain brown rice crackers
- Plain corn or rice cakes

Toppings
- Cottage/cream cheese, tomato + basil
- Cottage/cream cheese, smoked salmon
+ cucumber
- Tuna/salmon, tomato + red onion
- Avocado, cheese + tomato
- Hommus, cheese + tomato
- Boiled egg + curry powder
- Peanut butter + banana
- Ricotta + blueberries/strawberries
- Ricotta, pear + walnuts

Feel free to mix up or change these ingredients to suit your and your family's food preferences, or to include what you have available.

Healthy Lunchbox Week 2020

Nutrition Australia's annual Healthy Lunchbox Week campaign is back again this year from the 19th to 25th of January, aiming to inspire Australian families to create healthy lunchboxes. Be sure to check out a range of recipes, fact sheets and guides, as well as videos that are available on Nutrition Australia's Healthy Lunchbox Week website.

Also, feel free to check out our 'What is a healthy lunch box?' video for some great lunch ideas and suggestions to help you meet your child's nutrition requirements!

Draft - Revised Australian Guidelines - Alcohol

Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has recently released the draft revised Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol for public consultation. The guidelines are being updated to reflect the most recent and best available evidence on the health effects of drinking alcohol.

A summary of the draft guideline recommendations are as follows:

Healthy men and women:
To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury for healthy men and women, drink no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day. The less you choose to drink, the lower your risk of alcohol-related harm. For some people not drinking at all is the safest option.
Children and young people:
To reduce the risk of injury and other harms to health, children and young people under 18 years of age should not drink alcohol.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding:
To reduce the risk of harm to their unborn child, women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol. For women who are breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest for their baby.

For context, a standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol, so for example is a nip of spirits, a small (100mL) glass of wine, or a midi or pot of beer.

Events

Nutrition Australia Qld are coming to Cairns in March

In the first week of March 2020, the NAQ team will be delivering services in Cairns. If you, or your organisation would like to know more about what services we can offer while in Cairns, please contact us at foodfoundations@naqld.org to find out more. Don't forget to include in your email what type of organisation you are from.

Do you have a question for the Healthy at Home team?

You can email your enquiries to healthyathome@naqld.org

NAQ Nutrition
12/212 Curtin Avenue West
Eagle Farm QLD 4009
Ph: (07) 3257 4393
www.naqld.org