Improve your diet

Eating better is one of the most common resolutions made around the world each new year, but many of us struggle to eat a healthier range of foods for very long.

Get the basics right

The basics for a switching to a healthier diet are pretty simple: more fresh fruit and vegetables, more fibre and less fat, sugar and salt. Nothing difficult there, but it’s not always easy to change the habits of a lifetime.

Don't rush

All the experts agree that making small changes to your diet over a longer period of time will give you a much greater chance of success than attempting a radical new diet on 1 January. So what can help you stick to your new plan? Writing it down may help, as can having a ‘support’ person or team (family or friends) helping you. Internet-based diet support services such as mypyramidtracker.gov and fitday.com may also help.

Quick Links

Community and Public Health and Community Health Information Christchurch offer expert practical advice and tips on a range of health subjects:

Simple changes for a healthier diet

For breakfast, choose natural, low-fat and low-sugar cereals (unsweetened muesli, whole-wheat cereals etc) with trim or soy milk instead of toast or cereal bars.
Take some fruit with you wherever you go for when you feel hungry.
Eat well by including a variety of nutritious foods from each of the four major food groups every day.
Feeling full is an essential part of successfully changing your diet, so make sure you still fill up but on healthier things.
Buy fewer takeaways and processed, pre-packaged foods as they tend to be loaded in fat, sugar and salt.
Watch out for low-fat foods which substitute more sugar and salt for less fat in order to maintain taste.
Remember it’s okay to treat yourself once in a while, but choose carefully and don't over-indulge.

Healthy diet resources

Our online resources

Browse the resources in our libraries

Christchurch City Libraries has lots of books to take home and plan your better diet. See a full list of our resources on:

Diet improving your diet and losing weight
Nutrition making sure you give your body what it needs
Diet therapy eating plans and recipes to improve your health

Internet Gateway website listings

Health Reference Center Academic: Articles from nursing and allied health journals, newspapers, newsletters and full-text reference work on fitness, pregnancy, medicine, nutrition, diseases, public health, occupational health and safety, alcohol and drug abuse, prescription drugs, and more. The material contained in this database is intended for informational purposes only.
Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition: Published by Oxford University Press, 1995. Electronic Resource from Oxford Reference Online.
Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.
Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise: Published by Oxford University Press, 1997. Electronic Resource from Oxford Reference Online.
Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.
Food and Nutrition @ Oxford Reference Online: A collection of reference books covering Food and Nutrition.
Access this with your library card number and PIN, or at our libraries.
Nutrition @ Te Puna Web Directory: Links to New Zealand organisations and information.
Agencies for Nutrition Action: Tool for people who work in the promotion of nutrition and physical activity in New Zealand.
BBC Healthy Living: Nutrition, fitness, weight, health at work, travel health and alternative medicine information from the BBC, an informative and easy to use site.
Choice Food for Kids: Australian site which reviews food products to help parents choose healthier food for their children.
Consumer Information - New Zealand Food Safety Authority: Information for consumers all about food safety, from the chemicals in everyday food through to information on product recall and foodborne illnesses.
Everybody: Nutrition & Weight: Written for New Zealanders, Everybody provides fact-sheets/ overviews on a variety of health topics. Articles are written by medical writers and reviewed by consumer health organisations and health professionals.
Family Doctor: Nutrition: Written by New Zealand health professionals, Family Doctor contains patient's guides, overviews and links for a wide range of health topics.
Feeding Our Futures: Site dedicated to helping parents and caregivers achieve healthy diets for kids. Has simple, practical and low-cost ideas for getting children to eat well.From Ministry of Health.
FOE : Fight the Obesity Epidemic
Food Safety & Nutrition Information Food Safety & Nutrition Information: Information for consumers from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
GE Free Food Guide: Your guide to avoiding genetically engineered food.
IPCS INCHEM: IPCS INCHEM Chemical Safety Information is a collaborative venture of the ILO, UNEP and the WHO. It is a means of rapid access to internationally peer reviewed information on chemicals commonly used throughout the world, which may also occur as contaminants in the environment and food. It consolidates information from a number of intergovernmental organizations whose goal it is to assist in the sound management of chemicals.
LiveSmart
Manufactured Food Database (MFD): Lists additive free foods, compiled by Nutrition Services, Auckland Hospital from information voluntarily supplied by New Zealand Food Manufacturers.
Mayo Clinic Food and Nutrition Center: Nutrition news in the headlines, healthy versions of recipes, and articles about food and cooking.
MEDLINEplus: Diet and Nutrition: Extensive information from the National Institutes of Health (USA), contains a medical encyclopaedia, dictionaries, news, overviews, information on specific conditions and links to other organisations.
MEDLINEplus: Food Allergy: Extensive information from the National Institutes of Health (USA), contains a medical encyclopaedia, dictionaries, news, overviews, information on specific conditions and links to other organisations.
New Zealand Dietetic Association (NZDA): The national professional body of the dietetic profession, currently representing over 450 dietitians and associated professionals practising in related areas of nutritional care, health and disease throughout New Zealand.
New Zealand Food Composition Data: The database allows you to view what a particular food is composed of. New Zealand foods are well represented.
Nutrient Data Laboratory
Nutrition: Practical nutrition information from the Community and Public Health division of the Canterbury District Health Board.
Nutrition Foundation: A non-profit organisation working pro-actively in the nutrition field alongside the food industry, Ministry of Health, other health promotion agencies, schools and the media.
Nutrition Panel Calculator (NPC): Has been developed to provide food manufacturers with the ability to readily calculate the average nutrient content of their food products and to prepare a nutrition information panel as required under Standard 1.2.8 - Nutrition Information Requirements, of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. From Food Standards Australia New Zealand
The Nutrition Source: Carbs or calories? Fiber or fat? Finally, a source you can trust for information on healthy eating. The Harvard School of Public Health has amassed easy-to-digest information on such matters as food pyramids, exercise, calcium, interpreting the mass media, alcohol and type 2 diabetes. The articles are all straightforward and grounded in real science rather than hype, and technical terms are hyper-linked for maximum comprehension.
USDA Nutrient Database: If you need to know what a particular food is composed of then enter a keyword and see your favorite food items broken down into their various minerals, vitamins, amino acids and so on.

In Reference