An afternoon with the professionals from NHS

The Mini Cooking Club had the pleasure to meet with Tejal Lovelock from the Public Health Department of NHS Southwark. Silvia Livett, also joined us at the meeting to discuss the obesity prevalence and strategies to target the issue in London Borough of Southwark.

Jaycee Cheong (The Mini Cooking Club's Campaign Manager) attended the meeting to discuss the future of the organisation and to promote the workshops we run for children, families and the residents with mental health issues.

Tejal and Silvia mentioned how obesity prevalence affects the rate of type II diabetes in people of all age groups. The figures demonstrate that one out of four children is considered obese which it is alarmingly high, as it would increase the risk of type II diabetes of an individual. 

To prevent the increase of obesity from happening, education of healthy lifestyle is crucial, however, illiteracy and poverty are the main barriers that we face. Tejal and Silvia both felt the key to success in education is to teach them the practical skills of cooking, along with community activities such as exercising and learning together; this can also improve the social cohesion of a community and bringing families together.

The Mini Cooking Club considers the advice given to be a valuable development and we would like to take this opportunity to thank both Tejal and Silvia for their kindness and being so helpful in guiding us.