After the week we’ve all just had, some good news would be welcome! Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa’s largest online diabetes community, is delighted to share that – thanks to a generous printing sponsorship from Lilly South Africa – we will be able to print 100,000 copies of our Healthy Food Guide to distribute to underserved schools in South Africa in January 2022.
A simple, illustrated guide
The Healthy Food Guide offers a simple, illustrated guide to which foods to choose and in what portions, using the plate model as a guide. It’s not only for diabetes, but also a guide for how to eat healthy with high blood pressure, cholesterol or if you want to lose weight – essentially just a reference book for making healthy food choices.
Sweet Life created a first version of the Healthy Food Guide a year ago, and sent out 15,000 copies (for free) to public clinics, dieticians and hospitals around the country. We gathered feedback, worked on it with a behavioural scientist, and had it assessed by the National Department of Health Nutrition Department. This revised version is the result.
100,000 copies to schools who need it most
Now we’re able to send 100,00 copies – 200 copies each to 500 non-fee-paying schools around South Africa – thanks to Lilly covering the printing costs and working with Pick n Pay School Club. Pick n Pay School Club reaches over 105,875 teachers, 2,268,750 learners and 3,403,125 guardians in 3,025 private, urban suburban and rural schools across South Africa. We’re working with them to get this information to the kids who need it most – via their Life Orientation teachers, who will choose which grade to focus on with the Healthy Food Guide.
The joy of this approach is that, while we’re also sharing copies of the Healthy Food Guide through public clinic dieticians nationwide, we’re able to reach children and help them to recognise which food choices contribute to greater health. We all know that parents listen to their children in a different way to how they listen to healthcare professionals, so our hope is that this is one small step towards building a healthier South Africa – now and in the future.
Find out more about how to live a healthy, happy life with diabetes at www.sweetlife.org.za
[Credit:Flux Communications]
