Lions serve up healthy lunch lesson

SERVED UP: Masterton Holdsworth Lions Club president Trish Beresford with Faun Warwood, 5, proudly displaying her sandwich filling.

Masterton Holdsworth Lions Club members helped new entrants at Masterton Primary School chow down on healthy foods yesterday that the pupils prepared themselves.

Lions member Glenys Hansen, who has been for about three years a weekly "reading Gran" for the junior syndicate (new entrant and Year 1) at the school, had struck upon the idea of a healthy eating event while brainstorming with teacher and syndicate leader Stephanie Hoy.

"I wanted to do more for the school and the kids and we agreed that having a healthy lunch morning would be excellent."

The Breadcraft bakery in Masterton donated bread, rolls and wraps and Masterton New World had donated other vital ingredients and food. Five other members signed on as helpers and one pupil, Kaylee Gordon, even brought along some parsley to include with eggs in their sandwiches, rolls and wraps. Included in the corps of helpers yesterday was Lions club district governor Nalini Bhaskar, who is a former teacher, and Masterton Holdsworth Lions Club president Trish Beresford.

Mrs Hansen said two classes of 18 junior pupils had been led in the preparation of a healthy lunch each from a selection of salad and fruit platters and the event had been as rewarding for the helpers as it was filling for the children.

"You need a balanced amount of different foods - limited carbohydrates for instance - and healthy options as well. The aim was that if we could get just one child to go home and ask for a healthy addition to their lunch - job's done," she said.

"November is diabetes awareness month as well and this is a small way that we can help to encourage children to eat healthily and make the right choices with food, and also help alleviate the growing child obesity problem."

Mrs Hoy said the pupils had been taken on healthy eating lessons in their classes in the fortnight before the event and the studies had taken hold.

"It's great. We've done some work around the food pyramid and linking it to their lunchboxes and that all things in there are good, but where do they fit in the pyramid? It has filtered through as well and they're having conversations about healthy eating."

Mrs Hansen said several of her Lioness co-members had also volunteered as readers at the school and after discussions with deputy principal Anne Donald, the healthy eating lunch was to be an annual event.

For more information or to join the Masterton Holdsworth Lions Club call Glenys Hansen at 06 378 9967 or Janet Campbell at 06 372 5864.