Brain Boxes and shelf signs will promote dementia risk reduction
UNSW Sydney and Harris Farm Markets will promote brain-healthy eating during Dementia Action Week, with food information, recipes and curated food boxes aimed at Australian shoppers.
The campaign runs from 21, 27 September. During that week, selected health, food and wellness content creators and nutritionists will receive Brain Boxes and use the ingredients to develop and share brain-healthy recipes.
Harris Farm created the boxes using guidance from the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute. Each Brain Box contains everyday foods aligned with the MIND diet, and Harris Farm will also sell the box online to customers.
Across all Harris Farm stores, shelf signage will point shoppers to more than 20 products selected with guidance from the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute and based on evidence about diet and brain health.
Customers will also see information sheets in stores and inside the Brain Boxes. Those sheets give practical advice on brain-healthy eating and outline UNSW research into reducing dementia risk.
UNSW Scientia Professor Kaarin Anstey, who studies cognitive ageing and dementia risk, said the campaign aims to show that dementia is not necessarily an inevitable part of growing older.
According to Anstey, research suggests that changing modifiable health behaviours could help prevent or delay up to 45% of dementia cases. She listed diet, physical activity, keeping mentally active, stopping smoking and managing vascular risk factors among those behaviours.
MIND diet foods highlighted in stores
The food selection follows the MIND diet. UNSW describes that eating pattern as one built around vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, legumes and berries, as well as fish and healthy fats such as olive oil.
Products highlighted through the initiative include whole grains such as oats, brown rice and quinoa; vegetables including beetroot, cabbage and cauliflower; leafy greens such as baby spinach, kale and bok choy; nuts including walnuts and almonds; beans and legumes such as chickpeas and lentils; berries including blueberries and strawberries; poultry such as chicken breast and turkey; oily fish including salmon and sardines; and extra virgin olive oil.
Anstey said the Brain Box brings some of those foods together to show how easily people can add brain-healthy choices to an everyday diet.
The partnership also links Harris Farm stores with UNSW’s wider dementia prevention research. UNSW said the campaign is designed to move that research into stores and homes through shopping choices people can make during the week.
