Two University of the Sunshine Coast Nutrition students will soon help Chancellor State College families slice, dice and sizzle their way to healthier eating habits.

Tyrone Huckstepp and Rebecca Johansson are running a hands-on, healthy eating workshop and cooking class for College parents on Thursday 15 October.

The three-hour evening class is part of the students’ practical placement at the school, where they are being mentored by Hospitality teacher Barb Ritchie.

The workshop will give parents ideas and strategies on healthy eating, cooking skills and including more fruit and vegetables in their families’ diet.

Tyrone said both he and Rebecca were keen to tackle some of the health and dietary challenges faced by local families, using the knowledge and experience gained in their Bachelor of Nutrition degrees.

“The research is pretty clear on some of the barriers to healthy eating, such as a lack of cooking skills or nutrition knowledge, the time and the cost,” Tyrone said.

“These things have really led us to what we’re putting into the workshops. We want to share information on healthy eating with the participants and we’ll do a two-hour cooking class to get them started.

“People will come away from the workshop with ways to improve their families’ eating habits, but we think they’ll have a really fun night as well.”

USC Lecturer in Nutrition and Program Coordinator Dr Sarah Burkhart said Tyrone and Rebecca’s workshop was a great example of the practical fieldwork USC Nutrition students could undertake.

“This workshop will be a way of connecting with the community and provide a fantastic challenge for the students,” Dr Burkhart said.

“We also have students doing placements with a large variety of groups, including the Red Cross, Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Program and the Brisbane Roar.

“These are opportunities for students to put the knowledge and skills from their program into practice before they graduate.”

— Gen Kennedy