The ‘Healthy Chef’ was delivered to 40 young girls from across the nation Doha, 30 April 2014: Aspetar recently hosted an enjoyable five-day cooking class for 40 young girls from around Qatar as part of its ongoing commitment to fostering good eating habits and healthy living. The ‘Healthy Chef’ course, delivered by Aspetar instructors, was designed to inspire healthy food choices by young girls aged between 8 and 12. During each three-hour cooking workshop the participants were treated to a trip to the supermarket and taught the basic rules of nutrition, food selection and safety, menu planning and food preparation Commenting on Aspetar’s latest community drive Jwaher Al Neama ,Aspetar’s Nutritionist, said:

“Promoting a healthy lifestyle within the community is one of our strategic objectives at Aspetar, and the ‘the healthy Chef’ is our latest initiative through which we deliver fun and educational content designed to inspire long-term behavioural change”.

For Fatma Hussain Al Haddad the interactive sessions provided her a unique opportunity to learn fun food facts that she then put into practice.

“This course has taught me what ingredients comprise a healthy meal and how to put them all together which is very useful to know,” said the grade three pupil. “I now understand what healthy food is and how to prepare it and me even helped my mother make vegetarian kebabs”.

Meanwhile, Wadha Al Neema now teaches the rest of her family what she has learned at Aspetar.

“I showed my cousins how to cook the dish I learned in the first class,” said the grade two pupil. “And now my family and I have started a new tradition where every Thursday we cook a healthy meal together”.

Furthermore, at the end of the course the ‘Healthy Chef’ participants were each given a cookbook full of fun and simple step-by-step recipes, illustrations and nutrition tips to help continue their healthy living journey. Organised by Aspetar’s Healthy Lifestyle Department, the ‘Healthy Chef’ is the latest in a range of regular activities aimed at inspiring Qatari residents to adopt vigorous lifestyles. Previous initiatives include the ‘Haraka we Seha’ health and fitness programme for children. As well as the ‘Step into Health’ campaign that has proved to be a great success for Aspetar, with more than 30,000 members taking approximately 7.5 billion steps since its inauguration in 2012.