Men who like to cook are usually popular with women and win the title of “caring guy". How about a male dietitian who loves cooking? Will he be more popular among women? Kurtus, a dietitian, has been fond of cooking since childhood. With his expertise in nutrition, he often creates his own “healthy recipes” and shares them with the public. He hopes that everyone can eat healthy in a way that is both tasty and enjoyable.
It is common that many new admitted students are unfamiliar with subjects of higher education, hence they may have a beautiful misunderstanding and choose a study path out of their expectation. Kurtus is one of them. He said, “After graduation from Secondary 7, I started to pursue the Higher Diploma in Applied Nutritional Science at IVE(Chai Wan) because I enjoyed cooking…I remembered that the lecturer joked that I should apply hotel studies or catering management if I love cooking!” Kurtus added that knowledge of biology and chemistry was required for studying nutrition, but he knew it until the term started. And, he did not study these two subjects in secondary school. He expressed, “It was very difficult for me to keep pace with my study at the beginning. Fortunately, IVE lecturers were very kind. They did not mind offering me makeup classes. Finally, I was able to catch up with the progress.”
Enlightened through internship opportunity and made great progress
Kurtus then studied nutrition in such an unintended way. However, what made him really fall in love with the subject was his internship at the United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service during his second year of study. He remarked, “The internship experience offered by IVE was very valuable. During the one-month internship program, I followed the community dietitians to do promotional activities and arrange exhibitions in different areas of Hong Kong to raise public awareness of nutrition. I found it meaningful and suitable for me.” The one-month internship experience helped him set his goal in life, and he planned to pursue a profession as dietitian after graduation from IVE. His academic results had improved a lot after he had a clear goal. He then had successfully enrolled in the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics in Australia and graduated with first-class honor. After returning to Hong Kong, he was employed by the previous internship provider and officially became a community dietitian of the United Christian Nethersole Community Health Service.
The common perception to dietitian refers to expert who shares information on newspapers, magazines columns or TV programs that advise what we should eat more or eat less. In fact, the public is not aware that nutrition scope can be separated into two categories: One is nutritionist, who carries out promotion or education about healthy diets. But if we are looking for professional to formulate a personalised diet plan, we should look for a dietitian. Kurtus explained, “If you want to become a dietitian, you have to take another practical qualification apart from the university study. Only dietitian can work in medical institutions to provide personalised dietary counselling services to patients.”
After obtaining the qualification as a dietitian, many of them will become dietitians in hospitals and formulate diet plans for patients. However, Kurtus decided to join an NGO (non-governmental organisation) and became a community dietitian. He said, “For those who love to work independently and study on complicated pathology, they will be more suitable to work as dietitians in hospitals. However, I am active and love to communicate with people. Through organising events, seminars or media sharing, I can disseminate the correct health information to more people. I think it is more meaningful and fits with my personality.”
Creating new healthy dish Patients can enjoy delicacies
After becoming a community dietitian, Kurtus found that his cooking hobby added advantage to his career development. He shared, “I love cooking, and I can cook Chinese and Western dishes or desserts. Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to improve health and ultimately reduce the intake of medicine. I derive satisfaction from making healthy meals to help other people.” Kurtus develops healthy recipes with the knowledge in nutrition, and shares it with the public through newspapers, magazines, as well as TV and radio programmes. For example, he made a special drink with dried edible flowers or baked lavender cake to reduce sugar intake. He also tried to bake a cake with avocado instead of butter. Kurtus hopes to demonstrate how to eat in a healthy yet tasty way. He added, “However, avocado is high in fat. One can only take half per day. It is absolutely impossible to lose weight just by eating avocado!” As a dietitian, Kurtus does not forget to give us a kind reminder.
Nowadays, it is common for people to consult expert online. It seems that everyone can become an expert and teach people how to take care of their health. But in fact, some of the information are inaccurate. Kurtus said that dietitians often spend time to clarify the preconception which is wrong. He said, “The most common asked question is whether one can lose weight by not eating rice. But in fact, carbohydrates in food are digested and broke down into glucose and provide our body with energy. Reducing intake of rice indiscriminately may have a negative effect on our concentration and emotion. So, reducing weight in this way can easily induce compulsive eating behaviour. It is difficult to sustain in the long run.” People struggle with weight control should pay attention to this point.
Knowledge is infinite. Kurtus, who has obtained the professional qualification as a dietitian, is currently pursuing a Master Degree in Public Health at the University of Hong Kong. The “civil” dietitian, who loves cooking and arranging health talks in the neighbourhood, has an ambition to widely promote nutrition for health. He said, “In the future, together with my expertise in nutrition, I hope to play a role in the public healthcare system or public policy making, helping more people to improve their physical and mental health.”
