Monday afternoon the Geelong Cats launched the Healthy Cats recipe book, a collection of favourite recipes from every Geelong Cats player which aims to empower young people to make good choices and eat healthy foods.

Currently one in four Australian children are overweight or obese, the Healthy Cats recipe book works to inspire families to cook healthy meals at home.

All 46 recipes including Joel Selwood’s avocado and corn pasta and Tom Hawkins’ beef burritos have been assessed by Nutrition Australia.

The assessment uses a traffic light system to classify food, green, amber and red ticks are awarded based on their nutritional value. The Healthy Cats recipe book received a green tick for 34 of its 46 recipes and an amber tick for the remaining 12.

Healthy Cats Ambassador Harry Taylor sees the recipe book as a great resource which encourages young people to live a healthy lifestyle and make healthy choices.

“As AFL Players, diet is an important part of our job. The energy we require to run, lift weights and push our bodies to the limit comes from what we eat.

“Like us, kids’ energy requirements will vary throughout the day.  We hope our recipes inspire families to try something new and look forward to continuing to educate kids when we visit schools later this year.”

Every school student participating in the club’s BioCats program, which educates young people on the importance of a healthy lifestyle, will receive their very own copy and thanks to Aussie Apples, a class set of the Healthy Cats recipe books will be distributed to all schools in the Greater Geelong region.

Aussie Apples Marketing Manager Luke Westley said the company was pleased to be involved in the project.

“We have been proud to partner with the Geelong Cats on this project for local schools. 

“Aussie Apples have always been a great choice for a healthy snack, but as some of the recipes show, they can be included in some really great meals for an extra nutritional boost for kids.” 

Cats General Manager of Community Development Sarah Albon thanked all involved in bringing the project to fruition.

“Healthy Cats is an important part of our foundation programs to empower young people to make good choices – in this instance, to make good choices around their nutrition.

“We would like to thank our partners Aussie Apples and Healthy Together Geelong for making this project a reality.”