The advice of Alia

The advice of Alia

July 2014

If you are bogged down by your child’s unhealthy eating habits then your worry is on its way out. I Want Healthy Kids by renowned Bahrain-based nutritionist Alia Almoayed was released by Life Positive publications at Crossword, Kemp’s Corner, in Mumbai on  May 20, 2014.

The attractive curly-haired nutritionist, mother of three, shared that it was her own search for health that brought her to study and understand the cornerstone of good nutrition. Having trained in marketing and public relations, Alia then decided to shift streams and focus instead on making a difference to society by helping them and particularly their children, eat healthier.

After the launch, there was a lively panel discussion moderated by Suma Varughese, editor-in-chief of Life Positive. The panelists included the feisty Vijaya Venkat, founder of the Health Awareness Centre, and one of the early pioneers of nutrition wisdom, Shonaalii Sabherwaal, macrobiotics expert and Niti Desai, well-known nutritionist.

Alia proposed that if children ate healthy 75 per cent of the time, that was more than acceptable as it was unrealistic to expect them to eat healthy all the time. She also said that for a child to take to a food, it must be placed before him for a minimum period of 20 times, by which time, he would get used to it. “Parents must persist and not give up,” she said. Most panelists spoke against the use of dairy, processed food, and sugar and advocated that children be weaned from such habits. Fruits, vegetables, sprouts and nuts were to be highlighted.

The evening ended with the happy author signing books for  members of the audience, convinced that healthy eating began at childhood.