Sandra Quinn, 30 Aug
GROWING up in Glencolmcille in Donegal - with her father working as a
fisherman - good food and homemade produce were a staple in the life of
Christina Hardy.
She said that her Dad used to always say “that’s good for you” and the
value and nutrition behind food was always part of her life in some
way.
Growing up, they would get treats once or twice a week, but it was
mostly healthy, wholesome food and a lot of fish and chicken.
As she got older, Christina loved Home Economics in school and has this
one core memory of getting 100% in a test and her teacher saying;
“Thank God for you, Christina.”
Looking back, Christina said that getting that validation and knowing
that this is something she’s good at gave her a real confidence boost
to pursue this as a career in some way.
Initially, she wanted to be a Home Economics teacher, but she didn’t
get enough points and ended up studying chemistry in college.
About ten years after she finished school, Christina retrained and
became a nutritional therapist.
Her work in this area led her to appreciate how far reaching the
influence on food in your life can be and how important it is to get
this message through to young children at a formative age.
Christina’s book “Colourful Foods and Activities for my Body & Mind” is
aimed at children aged between three and 14 and aims to promote
positive messages and good habits around health messages, growing food,
recipes, the importance of nutrition and exercise and how this all ties
in with mental health and mindfulness.
As a nutritional therapist, she said that a lot of clients come to see
her due to IBS, fertility support or weight loss and that a lot of her
initial work centres around undoing bad habits formed in people’s
childhood.
She realised that if children were given the tools to create good
habits and attitudes at a younger age, that it would make for a
generation of adults who are more balanced and have a healthier
attitude to food, nutrition, exercise, sleep and mindfulness than their
parents or grandparents.
Christina said that whenever she saw children in her clinic, she
realised how much of an open book they are with food and health.
“They would ask questions like what food should I eat before training
or what makes my body run faster. They are just so open and whenever I
gave talks during Active Week in schools, it was amazing how much they
took in,” she said.
Her hope for the book is that it would kick-start good habits and by
instilling these from a young age, good food, healthy eating, a good
sleep routine, positive exercise patterns and mindful breathing
techniques would all just be part of life and not something that these
children, as they grow into adults, would have to consciously work at,
to achieve.
Rather than giving people huge steps to transform their lives, which
might not be sustainable, Christina sees herself as a facilitator who
helps people to assess where they’re at, what they need to do and how
to achieve that over time in sustainable manageable ways that fit in
with their lifestyle.
“A lot of women I see when they come to me say they’ve been dieting for
years and they just want to be normal. When they are ready, there are
no quick fixes - one of my passions is to help break the dieting cycle
especially between a mum and daughter and to break that generational
habit,” she said.
She pointed out that children are always watching and observing and if
they see their parents counting calories or focusing on the number on a
weighing scales, they will start to do that in some way too.
“I want children to look at food as fuel for the body and not to shy
away from food or think of things as being good or bad for you - all
food gives you something.”
Dr Malie Coyne helped Christina to incorporate subtle messages about
mindfulness into the book.
“Imagine starting young kids off with good breathing techniques and
dealing with their emotions and then in years to come when they’re
doing exams, the relaxing breathing techniques are just something they
do, not a new skill they have to learn in an already stressful time,”
Christina said.
“It’s a good habit, that is just part of their day,” she added.
By incorporating colouring into the book, Christina said it’s a great
way to get younger children involved, but it also allows the book to
grow with the family.
Christina has two girls, aged nine and 13 and her nine-year-old is
colouring in their hardback copy of the book and she said it’s helping
to “bring the book to life” and that the book is really about “vibrant
health” in every way.
Little rhymes also help smaller kids to build familiarity with food and
their good values and what they give you.
For instance, through rhymes and food characters, children learn that
bananas help to mix food up in their tummy (in that they have prebiotic
qualities) and that tomatoes give the “heart a little flutter” as they
promote cardiac health through lycopene, which can lower ‘bad’
cholesterol as well as blood pressure.
Older children then may take more from the food growing ideas and the
recipes, and, even recently, Christina came home from work to find that
her teenager had made dinner and a crumble for dessert.
Christina said that while mess in the kitchen can be hard to cope with,
children need to be given freedom there - supervised when it involves
chopping or learning how to do anything that involves risk, but that by
getting involved, they are learning and these lessons will stay with
them.
“We don’t have to be so concerned about the mess - let the flour be
everywhere, let them spill the berries - it builds their confidence so
much,” she said.
She added that cooking and preparing food with an adult with you is
also a way of focusing on the moment and in its own way is mindfulness.
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Christina said that children need more good examples in whatever form
that comes in - whether it’s seeing an adult make something from
scratch, seeing someone prioritise time for themselves to relax, get
exercise or making sure they get enough sleep.
She said that there is so much information out there in the world now
that common sense has been waylaid by many.
“Keep it natural and tap into our own common sense - the more we can
get back to that with simple things. Like sticking to the periphery of
the supermarket - the middle aisles are where the additives and sugar
are, so get as many things from the periphery and limit the other
things. Food doesn’t need to be good or bad, but you’ll get more from
some food than others,” she said.
A number of experts contributed to the book, these included clinical
psychologist and author Dr Malie Coyne (visit her website here),
gardener and owner of D&M Garden Centre, Cafe and Food Hall, Tom
Giltenane (visit the website here) and athlete and coach and world
master gold medallist for Ireland Ger Cremin.
“Colourful Foods and Activities for my Body & Mind” is available from
the following stockists:
* D&M Garden Centre in Croagh,
* O’Mahony’s Bookstore Limerick,
* Sonas Healthfood Store in Newcastle West,
* Nature’s Hand in the Crescent shopping centre,
* Limerick Greenway bike hire in Barnagh,
* All Amazon platforms and you can send a message via social media
(christina_nutiritional_therapy on Instagram) or email:
christine2019@outlook.ie for a signed copy.