Gold medal goodies for G8 Gold Coast centres with Karla Gilbert partnership

Former ironwoman Karla Gilbert will be working with G8 Education owned Kool Kids centres across the Gold Coast to introduce a new menu aimed at embedding healthy eating habits in children, right from the start. 

The partnership, which was announced this morning at Kool Kids Nerang, will focus on superfoods, with new meal options such as vanilla chia seed puddings and bliss balls through to fruit smoothies and sushi bowls, with the menus being introduced at Kool Kids child care centres from early 2020.

Ten Kool Kids early education centres across the Gold and Tweed Coasts will benefit from the partnership with the seven-time ironwoman series champion which G8 Education views as part of its commitment to embed healthy eating habits in children at a young age.

The launch of the new menu, a media spokesperson for G8 said, follows the release of a recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report which found 94 per cent of children are not eating the recommended two daily serves of fruit and five of vegetables.

Ms Glbert, a nutrition and health coach, noted the value of intervening early in life to ensure children’s positive eating habits are developed in the early years, saying “Children form lifelong eating habits based on the kinds of foods offered to them from a young age, and by tapping into this important time of their lives we can have a real impact.”

“I am so thrilled to be working with Kool Kids to deliver a healthy new menu – if there was something similar available when my kids were in child care I would have had them there in a flash,” she added.

Commenting on the selection of Ms Gilbert to design the menu, a representative from G8 said “From her sporting achievements to her passion for nutrition, Karla epitomises Gold Coast healthy living; and her parenting experience means that she knows exactly what it takes to tempt even the fussiest of little eaters.” 

Families enrolled at Kool Kids early education centres will receive exclusive invitations to attend cooking workshops with Karla, plus healthy recipes to recreate at home. G8 Education Chief Executive Officer Gary Carroll  said laying the foundations for healthy eating was a key component of the programming and service G8 provides for families.

“Healthy children are happy children and we have an important role to play in ensuring they are fuelling their bodies with the right foods,” he said.

“Our partnership with Karla highlights our commitment to delivering healthy and tasty meals to our children, while supporting families to educate their children about healthy food and nutrition” Mr Carroll added.

For more information about creating healthy food menus in ECEC services, please see here.