Melbourne Boot Camp

Across the road from where we run our boot camps in Northcote, I came across this sign promoting the supermarket brand and that patronising these stores a will lead to the generation of funds for school sports.

It’s disturbing that our Australian school system has become reliant on large corporations to generate additional income to manage the shortfalls from what is available from the government.

The shortage of funds available to the public school sector has led to other forms of fundraising activities involving large corporations, typically this involves the school canteen whereby selling highly processed, fatty and sugary food is given precedence over healthier choices.

Unfortunately it’s all the bad food that should be consumed infrequently that tends to have the highest profit margin which in turn leads to greater income generation.

A recent report titled “Education at a Glance” produced by the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation painted a very appalling situation in regards to Australia’s school funding reputation.

Compared to other countries, Australia ranks 26 out of a total of 28 countries in regards to the proportion of public versus private government funding. When compared to other countries for example the US where 99.8% of government funding is allocated for the public education system, only83.1% is invested in public schools.

This places enormous stress on the public school system to source additional funds from other willing participants who wish to expand their brand recognition and increase revenue of their products.

While it can be argued that supermarkets sell a range of food products, including junk food etc, it is instilling from a very young age the association with sports where one buys their food. As parents wish to support the school to generate additional funds, they will be encouraging friends and family members to participate in the program, similarly they will be trying to purchase the maximum amount of products from the supermarket.

While supermarkets dominate the food distribution landscape, (Back in 2007 this was a staggering 79% combined market share between Coles and Woolworths) we need to educate the next generation that there are other options out there when purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables.

Children who develop brand recognition as children go on to be come consumers in their adult life, they establish a loyal customer for life.

There are numerous examples of whereby the these large corporations have established lifelong customers through the early branding initiatives, one example is the money tins that were freely given away by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in the 70s. Once a relationship and association has been established from a young age, the child will go on to become an adult customer.

This is a worrying trend that will not go away as schools are constantly seeking alternative forms of fundraising, fortunately the confectionery companies fundraising boxes has been banned from many schools.

With more and more parents experiencing fussy eating issues with their children, maybe it’s time for parents to take control.

Nowadays the dinner table resembles an a la carte restaurant, whereby the parent will prepare different meals for every child including their spouse.

While this may be viewed as achieving a positive outcome for the children as they are eating their preferred diet, it has led to a situation whereby the kids at dictating what they’re actually eating.

I’ll be very surprised if the children’s special dietary requests included green vegetables and fruit.

Ultimately the parents need to take some ownership of teaching their kids to eat particular foods that may be not to their satisfaction. A recent study by the University of California, San Diego, found that children that experienced the fussy eating syndrome were linked to weight gain and conversely fussy children become fussy eating adults.

While the children may experience genuine allergies to certain food types, parents need to take control of the children’s nutrition is not vice versa.

Part of the process involves the parents educating the children about correct nutrition, what they should be eating and the frequency.

Well I may be saying what my parents used to say to me, but “when I was a kid” my mum exclusively cooked meals from scratch, not relying on any processed ingredients or pre-made food.

While granted some of the meals may have fallen into the high rotational production lists, it did teach me the basics of nutrition in a wide variety of foods.

Not taking the easier option of only eating what satisfied my taste buds established life long eating habits.

As an adult I find that I’m just as comfortable eating a bowl of steamed vegetables as I am eating an exquisite meal in a fine dining restaurant.

I had an interesting experience talking to a couple gentlemen at a conference yesterday about the need to add lots of sugar to thire coffee, while I myself was not squeaky clean in this department, I decided many years ago to stop adding sugar to my coffee.

Initially I found that the coffee was not as palatable, in time I learnt to appreciate the flavors and textures of the coffee without being tarnished or influenced by the sweetness of sugar.

Conversely now if I consume coffee with 3 to 4 sugars, I find it hideously sickening, the idea being is that our taste buds to adapt as too they adapt as a young adult.

If you learn to eat all those undesirable vegetables and other food groups as a child, in time to gain an appreciation for food and are less likely to be very discerning with your food consumption.

While there additional pressures on parents these days with high mortgages long working days and less time for family life, what the family eats as a whole needs to be addressed.

With the food industry’s fear of the imminent legislation looming over advertising to children, their self regulated code seems to be a bit of a joke.

Recently there have been two breaches of the self-imposed code, with the advertising standards Bureau’s complaint regarding a recent Nestle advertisement featuring children interacting with their products.

The food industries guidelines stated that they would not advertise to children under 12 for any food products or high in salt, sugar and fat.
Nestle way later acknowledged that smarties did not constitute a product that fell within the parameters established under their own guidelines.

A similar situation is happening with regards to food labeling, with many big corporate food companies adopt thing and RDI label across the top or bottom of the packaging. While it may be construed as a good initiative by the food industry, it is a sneaky way of manipulating dietary information to receive a positive outcome, that their products are low in sugar, fat and salt.

In the spirit of political speak, they turned the incident around saying that the code was working as advertisements which breached the code were withdrawn rather than these ads should never have been broadcast in the first place. This begs the question if these ads were not brought to the attention of the advertising standards Bureau, whether the Food and Grocery Council would have voluntarily moved to have these ads withdrawn.

The writing is on the wall for other big conglomerates, as the fast food industry has also the precautionary steps to introduce their own guidelines with regards advertising to children. This is been adopted by seven of the big players in fast food such as McDonald’s, Hungry Jacks, KFC and Pizza Hut.

With childhood obesity reaching epidemic proportions, there really needs to be accountability and guidelines more in keeping with marketing unhealthy to food to children.

Also interesting is the exemption of websites from the code, if you look at the Freddo Frog’s website, I’II let you decide whether this is in breach of the code.

With our first true Autumn morning at boot camp, we had this incredible sunrise with the light filtering through the trees.

With Melbourne’s very wet & stormy Autumn, our water catchments will be enjoying the additional rain, although they are still low at just over 50%. Well it may be a while before we get another run of rain free sessions.

So if you live in them southern hemisphere then it’s a great time to get out and enjoy this magnificent weather, it’s just a start to come.

The awesome thing about a new season is the exciting range of new fruit and vegetables that are available fresh. So enjoy a great variety of fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, and stone fruit including peaches, plums and nectarines. The main thing to remember is try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables of different colors as there generally different vitamins and minerals.

An apprenticeship may be a viable alternative to the current fitness trainer qualifications that involve completing an 8 week course with minimal practical experience.

I find it very strange why a personal trainer or a fitness trainer is not viewed as a trade, there are numerous professions that involve attending a trade school over a 2 -3 year period in conjunction with practical work experience.

Yesterday I spoke with Joe, the Administrative Officer at the School of Hairdressing at Victoria University about the current hairdressing course, curriculum requirements and how this relates to the hairdressing apprenticeship.

Currently the students must complete 17 subjects of study that equates to 80 days over a 3 year period, the student determines the frequency of attendance, typically they may elect to attend 1 day at the University per week over the three-year period from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM or 6.5 contact hours per day. To satisfactory pass the course, the student must reach a level of competency for each of the 17 units.

The practical component of the course is the apprenticeship which the student attends on either a full-time or part-time capacity. The underlining criteria is that the student gains the underpinning knowledge of their craft together with a level of competency based on their school attendance. As with most trades, the practical component reinforces any knowledge and experience gained from their curriculum, so immediately after learning a new skill or piece of information, they have immediate opportunity to put this into a practical application.

The students must complete a total of 300 hours of practical and course attendance, the fundamental idea behind the apprenticeship is that the student hasn’t achieved the status of being a qualified hairdresser until they have completed both the practical and course requirements. This provides a nurturing and conducive environment in providing a fully qualified and work ready hairdresser by receiving the necessary guidance and on-the-job skill training from their employer in gaining real-life experience executing their knowledge.

Unfortunately this Australian government has taken resources away from the apprenticeship system, whereby most trades are experiencing a decline in the uptake of apprentices due to lack of funding to the employers to provide the necessary training and guidance during the apprenticeship. During this period of training, the employer needs to allocate the necessary resources in terms of staff to satisfactorily train the apprentice as the apprentice is gaining the necessary skills and applying them in a supervised environment.

One very impressive initiatives being undertaken next year is monitoring the application of the curriculum to every hairdressing student. A representative from the University/school will attend the workplace of the student to manage their on-site training. This would involve discussions with their employer and other work colleagues about the student’s competency, the application of the information learned, assessment of their on-the-job performance and ensuring that the apprenticeship arrangement is working well for both parties. This will take place four times per year and this practice will reinforce the students practical knowledge and application of skills.

The fitness industry needs to adopt a similar approach to provide a work ready fitness trainer into the workforce, rather than an eight week course where I they receive a free iPod upon signing up and upon completion of the course they can potentially injure the participant.

If the allied health industry is to take fitness trainers/fitness professionals seriously then there needs to be a radical rethink of the current academic and practical application of the current curriculum. Condensing anatomy, human movement, kinesiology, injury management and the practical component of the courses into such a short period cannot possibly produce the best outcome.

Why would a carpenter, plumber or hairdresser be required to complete a three-year apprenticeship rather than pack it all into an eight week course with no on-the-job training if this was a viable option.