Part of living a great life is having a well-balanced diet and making smart food choices. Eating nutritious foods helps us to keep good health and reduce our risk of chronic health problems like heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some cancers.

Here in the Maranoa we have access to a wide range of foods, but many of us can learn to choose foods and drinks more wisely to help protect our health.

Eating well does not have to be difficult, bland or expensive. Changing your eating habits can involve small changes to your lifestyle and can mean trying exciting new flavours and variety of foods. You may also feel well and energised as a result!

Be Healthy & Safe Maranoa holds nutrition and cooking activities throughout the region. Continue reading to find out more!

Mums and Bubs Nutrition Workshops

Be Healthy & Safe Maranoa in partnership with the South West Hospital and Health Service are providing a series of three free Mums and Bubs Nutrition Workshops. Don’t be fooled by the name, these workshops are not only great for Mums, but also for partners and support people, carers or anyone thinking of starting a family.  Give your child the best start possible!

Workshops are held 9am – 11am on Saturdays at Roma Community Hub, 57 Bungil Street, Roma.

Morning tea is provided and bookings are essential.

Better Breastfeeding

Coming soon!

Introducing Solids

Coming soon!

Fussy Feeders 

Coming soon!

For further information or to book contact Council's Coordinator - Healthy Communities on 1300 007 662.

Go for Green Programs

Our Go for Green activities have been designed to help you make good food and meal choices, teaching you new skills and knowledge around cooking and nutrition! These sessions build a healthier community by supporting locals and their families to live happier lives.

Go for Green programs are free and held throughout the region by a qualified nutritionist. Whether you’re an individual, group of friend or community organisation looking for a healthy activity for you client group, give Council’s Coordinator - Healthy Communities a call on (07) 4624 0820 to find our more or to book a session.

Go for Green Cooking Workshops

Interested in learning how to cook healthier, tastier food on a budget? These practical, hands-on cooking classes will develop your culinary skills while making family friendly recipes. Go for Green cooking workshops are free –all you need to bring is healthy appetite!

Cooking workshops can be tailored to the interests of your group:

• Healthy cooking on a budget
• Family cooking
• Coking with new and interesting ingredients
• Modifying recipes
• International cuisines

Go for Green Food and Nutrition Sessions

Nutrition sessions can be tailored to the needs or interests of your group:

• General healthy eating
• Eating for a healthy heart
• Food, nutrition and chronic disease
• Understanding food labels and shopping smart
• Modifying recipes

Farmers Markets

Your local farmers markets are a great way to access fresh produce while supporting local industry. There are several local markets operating throughout the Maranoa, packed with local and regional fresh foods, preserves, plants, arts and crafts.

Find out about local markets.

Resources

Online

Nutrition and Recipes

• Healthier.Happier - Healthy recipes and information.
• Gofor2and5 – Recipes and information on the importance of fruit and vegetables.
• Healthy Food Guide – Healthy recipes and information.
• Cancer Councils ‘Eat It To Beat It’ – Recipes and information on the importance of fruit and vegetables (great for fussy children).
• Dietitians Association - Healthy recipes and information for the whole family.
• Australian Guide to Healthy Eating - Healthy recipes and information.
• Heart Foundation – Healthy recipes and information.
• Diabetes Australia – Healthy recipes and information (diabetic friendly).
• Simply Great Meals – Easy healthy recipes.
• Catherine Saxelby’s Foodwatch - Healthy recipes and information.
• Nutrition Australia – Healthy recipes and information.
• Healthy Kids Association – Recipes and health information for children.
• Healthy Meat Based recipes.
• Healthy Recipes for Grains and Legumes.
• Nutrition Australia – Queensland – Healthy recipes and information.
• Coeliac Friendly Recipes and information.
• Guide to eating out, buying products and online shopping for those with Coeliac Disease (also available as an App for IPhone).
• QCWA – Healthy recipes and information.

Exercise

• Diabetes Australia – Exercise videos and tips.
• Queensland Government – Exercise videos and information on the importance of exercise.
• Heart Foundation – Information on the importance of active living.
• Sports Dietitians – Recipes and information to fuel your exercise.

General Health

• Better Health Channel – Heal and disease information for the whole family.

Apps

• mySugr Logbook App (available for iPhone and Android) Track all your daily diabetic information including blood sugar, medication and carbohydrates.
• Diabetes Australia app (available for iPhone and Android) News, recipes and more to manage your diabetes.
• H&F Age Challenge (available for iPhone and Android) Track a variety of health determinants including exercise, f&v consumption, and alcohol consumption.
• Cook & Count (available for iPhone and Android) Easy to use, app for cooking from scratch and seeing the nutritional content.
• Gormaya (available for iPhone and Android) Find substitutions for ingredients (great for special dietary requirements).
• The MONASH university Low FODMAP Diet (available for iPhone and Android) For those with IBS this is an evidence based app with guides, recipes and tracking for your low FODMAP diet.
• EatingMindfully (not available for Android) Learn the skill of mindful eating.
• iStepLog iStepLog allows members of the 10,000 Steps program to easily record their daily physical activity and sync it with their online Step Log.
• ORGRAN Gluten Free (available for Android and iPhone) Gluten free recipes, ideas how to use ORGRAN products and a wealth of related health and nutrition information.
• The Coeliac Society of Australia Ingredient List (available for iPhone) Coeliac Australia's Ingredient List details over 800 ingredients and 300 additives used in Australian and New Zealand foods and indicates whether they are safe for inclusion in a gluten free diet.
• Coeliac Australia App (available for Android) Coeliac Australia's Ingredient List details over 800 ingredients and 300 additives used in Australian and New Zealand foods and indicates whether they are safe for inclusion in a gluten free diet.
• My heart, my life (available for Android and iPhone) Heart Foundation app to manage your medicines, health stats including blood pressure and cholesterol, learn about heart attack warning signs and what to do, and get recipes.
• Cookspiration (available for Android and iPhone) A huge range of healthy recipes catering to all dietary needs.
• MyFitnessPal (available for Android and iPhone) Exercise tracker.
• Nike Training Club (available for Android and iPhone) Women's exercise app.