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Community Nutrition Service

The community nutrition team work closely and in partnership with other agencies to address food and nutrition issues within the diverse communities of Coventry.

There are six community nutritionists and one senior Health Development officer who work in the six Health Action Areas. Their work focuses on reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and some cancers, blood pressure and obesity by improving the diets of people who most need help.

Aims:

• The team works to reduce inequalities in health and promote the health and well being of local people.
• The team supports key health, food and nutrition strategies within Coventry, including the Coventry Healthy Eating Plan.
• The team's work is targeted to focus on Coventry's six Health Action Areas where health statistics indicate highest inequalities in health.

The Community Nutrition Service works in close partnership with NHS and other services (eg Community Dietetics, Health Visiting, Surestart Programmes, Family Support Workers, Mental Health Services).

What the team do:

Community Nutritionists are located in each of the six Health Action areas and act as a local resource by:

• Working directly with individuals and families (in their homes) within areas of greatest need, to help them with the planning, shopping, preparing, cooking, budgeting and storing of food.
• Working with local groups such as; the homeless; refugee and asylum seekers; people with learning disability; young mothers and a variety of groups serving black and ethnic minorities, to improve diet and food related skills.
• Support local communities, shop and schools to improve access and the availability of cheap and healthy food, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables.

The community nutrition team also contributes to wide range of other food and health activity including:

• Healthy eating awareness campaigns linked to the five-a-day programme.
• Promoting healthy eating/diets specially targeting Asian-Caribbean communities and those on low income.
• Promoting healthy eating/diets via health events.
• Practical cookery sessions with children inside/outside school settings.
• Work with children around nutrition issues linking with staff, parents and youth services.
• Working with children around nutrition issues linking with staff, parents and youth services.
• Cook and Eat: Healthy eating on a low budget, etc aimed at groups and individual support in the six priority areas eg microwave cooking training for those who cannot access cooking facilities.
• Supporting community food projects eg the 'Tooty Fruity' project in the North East of the city.
• Working with local shops to promote healthy eating e.g. introduction of a local fruit and vegetable van.
• Promoting the adoption of healthier catering practices for school canteens.
• Training other workers and helpers.

See the Idea Knowledge website to download a case study (in PDF format) about the work that our community nutrition service has been doing to tackle local food poverty and health inequalities.

Useful Links

Health Development Project

Health Inequalities Service

Men's Health

Smoking Cessation

Women's Health

Community Health Development Officers

Safe as Houses

Public Health Performance Standards

Contact details