About Mission: Nutrition
This website was developed by a group of four second year medical students as part of a Health Promotion project, conducted in conjunction with MRS and the Faculty of Medicine.
Our project was based around investigatiing the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding nutritional issues of students currently living at MRS, and to design an implementation around these findings.
To help with our research, many of the MRS residents kindly volunteered to participate in a questionnaire on their own beliefs about nutrition and their eating habits.
After collating and analysing this information we were able to formulate this website with the specific needs of the students in mind. We did this with the intention of giving you, the residents, the best possible resource to help you improve your diets.
As such, the content of this site is tailored to the specific issues that you yourselves identified, in a friendly and easily accessible manner.
The content includes:
~ Basic nutritional information so everyone can have a clear understanding of what exactly consitutes a healthy diet
~ Instructions on how to cook the basics for those of you who have moved out on your own and aren't too sure how to fend for youreslves
~ A collection of over 100 quick, easy and healthy recipes, categorised so they are easy for you to use
~ Tips for eating on a budget
~ A guide to what fresh foods are in season when, so you can buy the best produce at the best price all year round
~ A list of the cheapest nearby shopping locations to help out those new to Melbourne or the area
~ A glossary of all those weird and wonderful foreign-sounding cooking terms that crop up in recipes but no-one really knows what they mean
~ The statisitical results of our surveys that enables us to develop and refine the website
~ Soon we also hope to have a function whereby student can rate current recipes and even add their own
We hope that all this will enable you to adopt a more positive and healthy approach to nutrition and and improve the quality of your time at MRS.
Bon Appetit!
From the Director of Monash Residential Services
Monash Residential Services [MRS] offers on-campus accommodation, services and associated facilities to approximately 3,000 students. My career in tertiary residential services commenced in 1981 and in the ensuing years I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and rewards that come with being part of a dynamic, exciting and vibrant community.
Moving away from home and into on-campus accommodation is a huge step. For a majority of our residents it is the first time they are away from home and as a consequence there are some transitional issues that they must overcome. For students away from home for the first time the transitional issues can include - homesickness, culture shock, language difficulties, strange food, cooking for oneself, different climate, time differences, transport, urban environment and at times just coping with the impact of the tangible distance they may be away from family and friends.
This brochure focuses on student nutrition. It is now widely recognised that healthy eating is an essential component to maintaining a well balanced lifestyle. In the fast paced lifestyle of most young adults, shortcuts to save time are taken and often students resort to ‘fast food’ as they see this food option as quick, easy and cheap. A diet that consists of too much ‘fast food’ can be bad for you – I love fried dim sims but realise that I cannot make them [as much as I would like to] a key component of my diet.
I am not suggesting that you should not eat pre-prepared ‘fast food’; rather I would ask that you consider trying some of the healthy ‘fast food’ recipes developed by the CBP* team in this brochure on Student Nutrition. The recipes have been developed to ensure the meals are easy to produce, quick to prepare, cheap and above all - nutritious. I would also recommend that you get together and share the fun and camaraderie of preparing and eating a meal with your friends - you never know, some of you may be culinary wizards.
With best wishes
Vladimir A. Prpich
Director
Monash Residential Services
* In late 2007, MRS became a community partner with the Faculty of Medicine and in 2008 offered community based placements [CBP] for eight 2nd year medical students. The eight students have formed two groups and have identified two areas that impact greatly on new tertiary students as they learn to act and think independently as young adults. The CBP teams have produced peer development programs on:
• student nutrition, and
• responsible consumption of alcohol
