Ladies you can't eat for two!

BY JESSICA ROUSE

A new study at the University of Newcastle is aiming to prove simply knowing the right sized servings of food can hugely impact your health, particularly if you're pregnant.

The study is helping women understand, and lift the confusion, on how big a serving size of carbohydrates is because having too much can be bad for both mother and baby's health. When too much carbohydrate is converted to blood sugar, high levels can adversely affect their health.

PhD candidate and dietician Hannah Brown says knowing about portion size plays a vital role in protecting the health of both mother and baby.

"We're focusing on carbohydrate knowledge, food label use and food intake to develop new ways to support women and help improve nutrition in pregnancy," said Hannah.

The study will test an app which visually shows the right portion size of food you should be eating, because despite popular belief, you can't use the excuse of eating for two while you're pregnant!

"The app uses augmented reality and what it does is it overlays one standard serve of a carbohydrate food onto a plate so the participate can actually see what one standard serve looks like and then they can put this into the context of their overall diets for the day," said Hannah.

Women who participate in the study can either come to the labs at the University to get access the app to take home on their phones, or alternatively there's an online survey women can complete at home.

The study is open to women over 18 years of age and from 12 to 22 weeks' gestation, with no previous diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. If you'd like to participate contact Hannah on 4985 4255 or hannah.m.brown@uon.edu.au . The survey is available at http://tinyurl.com/uonpregnancy 

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Hunter Valley population is booming: Census 2016

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Data from last year's Census has been released and shows that the Hunter's population, excluding Newcastle, is booming.

The Hunter Valley is home to just over 263,000 people and nearly 360,000 people in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie and across both regions, there are more women than men.

We found out just who the average Australian is too - a 38 year old woman who speaks English, is married and lives in a captital city. Our ancestry is predominately Australian with 33 per cent of our residents identifying as Aussie, closely followed by British.

Maitland was identified as a high growth area being the fastest growing outside of the Sydney metropolitan area.

Director of Data Processing Tracey Chester says not only are we growing, but we have the biggest ageing population as well.

"The 2016 Census also found that the population of the Hunter region is older when compared with NSW and Australia so the median age in the Hunter region is 39 years whereas for NSW it was 38 years."

In terms of religion, Tracey says we don't appear to be losing it here in the Hunter compared to the rest of the nation, with a great number of residents following Christian beliefs.

"While nationally around half our population said that they followed a Christian religion, in your area it's actually up at 71 per cent. You're also less likely to report no religion than nationally so 24 per cent of you reported that you didn't have a religion compared with 30 per cent nationally."

Looking at income in the Hunter the median weekly income is around $1280 dollars, but in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie it's around $1330 dollars.

For a full roundup of how we look in the 2016 Census head to  http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/Home/Census

Scholarships for women in Port Stephens

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Women in Port Stephens are being encouraged to apply for scholarships to help them achieve their goals as a part of International Women's Day celebrations in 2018.

There is three scholarships available worth $1,000 each and any females over the age of 16 are being urged to apply.

Nominations will open early next year for women who want to pursue their endeavours whether it's through education, career, or something personal.

Councillor Sally Dover is the brains behind the scholarships and says they'll be available for International Women's Day in March 2018.

"So I took the step of putting that proposal to council and gaining support from my fellow councillors and the mayor and so we look forward to getting that established."

"They might want to go back to studies, they might want to set up a business, they might be already doing something and want to expand something that they're doing so it's a pretty broad criteria but I think it will be wonderful to encourage women to step out and expand what they would really love to do," said Sally Dover.

She's very pleased with the scholarships and to make them even better, she says the support Port Stephens council can give scholarship winners in terms of strategies and ideas will make them even better.

Innovators of the Future

BY MARISSA ALEXIOU

Successful female visionaries from the University of Newcastle (UON) will come together to share their experience navigating a career in innovation.

The Women in Innovation event next week forms part of the Hunter Innovation Festival running from 16th May - 26th May.

An expert panel will feature Dr Yolanda Surjan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and CSIRO's Breakout Female Scientist. The event is set to prompt conversation around 'The Sponsorship Effect' and whether women need sponsorship rather than mentoring.

Whilst mentors may be able to act as a role model and provide personal and professional support, they may not have the ability to push those further in their career.

Other panel members include UON Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Sarah Pearson, RDA Hunter CEO Susan Wilson and AusIndustry Entrepreneurship Facilitator Cheryl Royle. The panel will also focus on gender equality and promotion of equity in the workplace.

Statistics have revealed whilst women are more likely to receive mentoring than men, the effort is not converting to equal career opportunities.

Dr Yolanda Surjan, Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences said sponsorship can be a vital turning point for establishing key connections needed to boost careers. Someone who is sponsoring is likely to already be in a successful position and has the ability to provide extra opportunities

"A sponsor provides opportunities, they look down, find the people that have the skill set and abilities and give them a boost upwards."

Dr Yolanda Surjan added the festival will provide the opportunity for Newcastle to showcase its assets.

The festival is hoped to inspire Hunter businesses, industry and community to take advantage of advanced technology and thinking.

Women in Innovation - The Sponsorship Effect is a free event at The Crowne Plaza on Monday 22 May at 5pm. More information on the festival and its events can be found here.

Source: http://hunterinnovationfestival.org/

Boost for women in the Hunter

BY JESSICA ROUSE AND GARY-JON LYSAGHT

Local Hunter organisations are being urged to apply for a new grant from the state government, Investing In Women. 

The grants program is worth $200,000 with $25,000 per project available to local councils, employers, industry bodies, training organisations and non-government organisations.

Investing In Women aims to provide funding for businesses who support women and their economic empowerment, including education and leadership.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is encouraging any organisation in the region with innovative projects aimed at benefiting women in education, leadership and financial security to apply.

"Most of all it is about getting financial security for women, and that comes back to financial and economic empowerment. There still remain many male dominated industries and it is asking women to look at some of those professions and trades and roles and their expanding opportunities."

For information, and to apply, visit the Women NSW website:
https://www.women.nsw.gov.au/women_and_work/investing_in_women_funding_program

Applications close Wednesday 24th May 2017.