Kirkby fights obesity rates with healthy cost-effective cookbook

The community of Kirkby is fighting back against obesity by creating a healthy cookbook of “Mediterranean delights”.

Group picture at a Kirkby Kitchen Cookbook event – Picture credits to Amy Gledhill

The Kirkby Kitchen Cookbook focuses on a Mediterranean-inspired diet which helps with the prevention of multiple health risks such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease.

This project is a result of the collaboration of local community groups like Northwood Mums and Centre 63, nutrition students from Liverpool John Moore’s University, Millbrook Medical centre patients and doctors, and Aintree University Hospital.

The cookbook features 26 healthy recipes that replicate family-favourite meals, like fish and chips, with healthy swaps.

Kirkby Kitchen Cookbook logo designed by Amy Gledhill

Amy Gledhill, 21, a nutrition student from LJMU, had roles such as recipe testing, working out the cost of food involved, and publishing the website.

She said: “It was important that they [the meals] were cost-effective and things were done in a sense that you could make them in bulk. It’s so hard at the moment for people to afford to support their diet, so it was making sure it was cost-effective and also time-effective as well.”

NHS published worrying data that Knowsley has the highest proportion of obese 10-and-11-year-olds in England and 75% of adults were found to be obese or overweight.

Centre63, a youth and community centre that aims to improve quality of life, were invited to be part of the project due to their Social Supermarket, a food bank that is on 4 days a week, providing fruit and vegetables to people in need.

Recipe from the Kirkby Kitchen Cookbook – Picture credits to Amy Gledhill

Jackie Croft, Chief Executive Officer of Centre63, said: “It’s obviously cheaper to eat unhealthily than it is to eat healthily, isn’t it? That is what a lot of people seem to think. So, we’re trying to encourage them to eat more healthily at the centre.”

She said: “It’s absolutely amazing to think that the legacy of this is going to improve people’s lives in the future – encouraging people to eat more healthily and cheaper.”

The cookbook is free for anyone to download online on the Kirkby Kitchen website.

Radio package is linked below.

Article and radio package by Megan Wells.