The Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) has renewed its commitment to health promotion and nutritional education by actively participating in the XI Nutrition Week held in Torrelavega. The event, organised by the City Council in collaboration with the Official College of Pharmacists of Cantabria, the Government of Cantabria and UNEATLANTICO, has brought together many residents and schoolchildren around talks, workshops and practical activities focused on the importance of healthy eating for physical and mental wellbeing.
During the mornings, the programme was mainly aimed at schoolchildren from five schools in the city: Manuel Liaño, Mayer, Pereda, Sagrados Corazones and Matilde de la Torre. The children took part in talks given by professionals from the College of Pharmacists, followed by healthy breakfasts prepared by cookery and catering students, and play activities aimed at reinforcing good eating habits from childhood. In addition, information leaflets were handed out so that families could continue learning at home, encouraging collaboration between school and home in the acquisition of healthy routines.
In the afternoons, the activities were open to social and neighbourhood groups, with specialised talks by UNEATLANTICO teachers Álvaro Lasarte García and Imanol Eguren García. Both gave a talk on ‘Disease prevention through nutrition’, explaining how a balanced diet can reduce the risk of chronic diseases and improve the quality of life in adulthood. In addition, during Nutrition Week, Lasarte and Eguren analysed ‘Diets, fads and food myths’, dismantling false beliefs and trends with no scientific basis, and providing tools to identify truthful information on nutrition.
Nutrition Week has been made possible thanks to the collaboration between local institutions, health professionals and the university, with the common goal of combating obesity, sedentary lifestyles and bad eating habits, problems that affect both young and old.
Councillor for Administration, Jesús Sánchez, stressed the importance of reaching both young and old: ‘In the mornings we work with schoolchildren and in the afternoons we raise awareness among adults about disease prevention and the influence of food on quality of life, also tackling diets, fads and food myths from a professional and rigorous perspective’.
The evening sessions were well attended, reflecting the public’s interest in acquiring useful and up-to-date knowledge about nutrition. The participative atmosphere and the informative approach of the talks made it possible to resolve frequent doubts and bring the science of nutrition closer to all audiences.
