About Anna Sloan
- 27 February 2009
Activate judge Anna Sloan is a highly qualified dietitian with nearly 10 years experience working in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, six of those years specialising in children's nutrition.
Anna loved working on the first series of Activate and relished the chance to make a second, despite being seven months pregnant!
She's dedicated to the cause of showing young New Zealanders how easy it is to make their own healthy meal choices.
"I love showing people how to choose easy foods that are inexpensive, healthy, and how to put them together to make balanced tasty meals. I regularly show people who think this is too hard, that in fact it is easier, cheaper and quicker than ordering takeaways (not to mention healthier). Most of the recipes you see on Activate take less time to make than sitting in a drive-through waiting for the five cars ahead of you to get their orders. And once you start tasting 'real' food you've made yourself, you'll find your taste buds have a whole new range of flavour favourites."
Though healthy and trim-looking (despite her pregnancy!), Anna hasn't always been that way and understands how hard it can be to grow up in a household that doesn't eat healthily.
"I come from a family of foodies, chefs, and good old South Island 'bakers' so it's not surprising they are all overweight (and I mean size 16-22!). I was overweight too and am proud of the 15kg I have lost (and kept off, although I'm still a complete foodie who loves to cook and bake).
"However seeing and being part of the constant struggle my family and friends had with making 'healthy choices' when it came to food and trying to achieve a healthy weight made me realise that if the rest of my family were making the world unhealthy, maybe I should be making it healthier. So the decision was made to become a dietitian instead. Understanding that food is important in all cultures for so many more reasons than just nutrition has helped me motivate and inspire people to feel good about the food choices they make."
Anna believes in Activate's philosophy that healthy cooking should be so easy, even teenagers can do it!
"In this day and age we need to accept that not everyone has the skills to boil an egg or the knowledge of what the food we see in our supermarket actually is (let alone how to cook it). I still remember a friend who went flatting and had to call home to ask her Mum how to cook lettuce! Activate is the show that will give young people the confidence to jump into the kitchen and have a go at making their own simple, healthy and delicious meals."
Anna has a Bachelor of Consumer and Applied Sciences in Human Nutrition and a postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics.
She lives in Orewa, north of Auckland, with her partner and brand new baby boy, Caden.