TWO new online courses promise to spill the beans on what families should be eating, and why.
Nutrition academics at the University of Newcastle hope the free courses - aimed at children and adults - will help start healthy conversations about food and cut through the clutter of misinformation.
Associate Professor Tracy Burrows said parents often wanted children to be better engaged with health information, but found it difficult to find programs that appealed to kids.
"Our first course is designed for children, and the second one is designed for parents," she said. "But it's also for teachers, or grandparents, or anyone with an interest in childhood nutrition. We wanted to provide some evidence-based information to the public.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there. And it's the time of year when kids have started school, or have just gone back to school, so it's a really good opportunity to think through what we are feeding our children."
Associate Professor Burrows said the complementary online courses - Food For Kids: Discovering Healthy Eating, and Food For Kids: A Parents' Guide - each went for three weeks, and had been designed to be open and accessible to anyone.
"The online delivery means anyone can do it, at any time in the three weeks," she said. "They can pace themselves."
The adult course looks at nutrient intake targets for children, how to manage common food behaviours in childhood, and offers practical guidance for healthy household eating habits.
"For the kids, there is a lot of fun videos rather than a lot of written content, and there's a lot of fun activities for them to do," she said.
