Infuse 3 March 2018 | Page 15

Your background is in marketing
leadership. How can dietitians better
market themselves, to stand out in such
a busy nutrition space? Jamie is expected to come out again
next year to Australia. What topics do
you hope to discuss with him on his
next visit?
Dietitians are probably the greatest
secret weapons for the public. Yet
people think, “I’ll go to a dietitian when
I get sick”. Why don’t people actually
engage with dietitians before they get
sick, and look at how they can help? I’d like to discuss with him on how best
to get edible education back on the
curriculum, and how we can actually
then help schools evolve.
I’d also like to talk about how Ministry
can evolve to address some of the
biggest health issues that we’ve got
in Australia, while collaborating with
partner organisations.
We’ve got to accept that nearly half
of all Australians are experimenting in
some way with some sort of dietary or
lifestyle choice, whether it’s because
they are coeliacs or just believe that
gluten-free is better.
We’ve successfully run the program
in two indigenous communities, so I’d
also love Jamie to visit our indigenous
areas, so we can discuss how to
approach the model slightly differently
going forward.
Healthy doesn’t just mean healthy
weight any more -- it means so much
more, on so many dimensions, from
belief systems to your social status. It’s
a hugely different proposition than it
was even ten years ago. So we need
to accept that, but also remind people
that they still need basic nutrition
knowledge.
interview continues overleaf...
That’s where dietitians come in.
Dietitians remain the source of truth,
and in delivering that “truth” they could
be a bit more Jamie-esque: “Give it
a try…here are things that you need
to know before you do…here are the
things to kind of experiment with and
be aware of.”
© Dietitian Connection
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Infuse | March 2018