Nutrition toolkit breaks language barrier

A toolkit for improving health and wellbeing produced by the City of Greater Geelong will now have a wider reach after being released in five languages.

The Eat Well, Live Well nutrition toolkit is now available in Arabic, Dari, Karen, Tamil and Swahili – as well as English.

The release coincides with Cultural Diversity Week (March 19-27), which invites people to ‘Connect through Culture’ by sharing food, music and conversation.

The toolkit reflects on the diverse cuisines in Greater Geelong while promoting the inclusion of traditional foods as part of a healthy diet.

The council’s Our Community Plan 2021-2025 identified ‘increasing healthy eating’ among Greater Geelong residents as one its five health and wellbeing priorities.

Deputy mayor Trent Sullivan said the city placed a high priority on creating a healthy, caring and inclusive community and the increased availability of the toolkit would play an important role in that.

“We are committed to providing clear health information that, when acted upon, improves health outcomes,” Cr Sullivan said.

“This enables everyone in our community to have the knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to live well on their own terms.

“Our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse groups form an integral part of our community, and we want to make sure that this knowledge is clearly available to them.”

Community Health and Aged Care chair Sarah Mansfield said while many factors influence health and wellbeing overall, healthy eating played a central role for every individual.

“Food is an important part of our everyday lives, and we know that what we eat is essential to our wellbeing as we grow and age,” Cr Mansfield said.

“We want to promote and support behaviours that will help people maintain a healthy weight and avoid chronic disease.

“Many members of our CALD communities will also understand how food connects us and brings our families and society together.”

The city’s Eat Well, Live Well nutrition toolkit is a free resource for the community and is supported by Victorian government funding.

The translated toolkit is available online and in hard copy the ‘geelongaustralia’ website or by calling Customer Service on 5272 5272.