Volunteers take on the challenge to change their eating habits for good

Leading a healthy lifestyle should be achievable and practical for all. Continuing their partnership with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), Tefal is championing a three month long initiative to prove eating healthily can be simple, and doesn’t have to compromise on taste.

Through a structured eating plan, along with innovative cooking methods, Tefal and the DHA are inviting six patients from the DHA database to take on a healthy eating and cooking challenge to change their eating habits for the long run.

Over a three-month period these six volunteers will be given a full nutritional assessment, a tailor-made simple diet plan along with a Tefal cooking solution to help them rustle up tasty and nutritious meals for them and their families.

The campaign intends to target the growing problem of obesity and malnutrition in a very hands-on, positive way, by improving eating habits across the GCC.

“We have chosen these six patients to represent a cross-section of the most common health-related cases in the UAE such as diabetes, high cholesterol and general weight management,” said Dr. Wafaa Ayesh, Director of Clinical Nutrition Department of DHA. “Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean dieting or cutting out the foods you love – it just means re-thinking what and when you eat, as well as how you prepare this food.”

The six patients are men and women between the ages of 30-55, who have been diagnosed with dyslipidaemia and obesity.  They agreed to embrace the recommended lifestyle changes as a challenge to become healthier and improve their quality of life.

To kick off the challenge patients were given full cooking demonstration by Tefal, showing how they can prepare healthy meals.

Each patient will also be closely monitored by a DHA nutritionist who will offer support throughout the challenge including personalised advice on: what to eat and at what times; what a balanced plate should include; perfect portion sizes for each individual; the importance of water intake; exercise; how to best prepare and cook meals; and a realistic and achievable target for the three months.

As experts in the field of healthy cooking solutions with its ‘Nutritious and Delicious’ product range – a revolutionary group of products designed to combine the pleasure of good food with nutritional benefits, Tefal knows that using less oil and cooking ingredients quicker can help reduce fat intake and retain vital nutrients which has been proven by independent tests – resulting in healthier meals.

“As part of our wider work with the DHA, this challenge brings an element of fun into our continuing mission to educate the UAE community about healthy eating,” said Pauline Stephan of Tefal. “By challenging regular people from the DHA database, we can prove that anybody can make small changes to their eating and cooking habits to transform their health and lifestyles without any deprivation.

“Whether reducing oil consumption with the Actifry – which uses just one tablespoon of oil to create delicious crispy snacks – retaining key nutrients with the shorter cooking times with the Clipso and Precision Pressure Cooker, or making versatile grilled treats on the Actifry’s snack grid, Tefal aims to make balanced eating as part of the everyday routine.”

The results will be announced on December 2015