Professor Felice Jacka is a world expert in the field of Nutritional Psychiatry and gut health. She is also the author of Brain Changer. Teacher and musician Rob Craw is a world expert at drawing bugs. They want kids to know about all the amazing stuff going on in their bodies – which is why they wrote a book all about it for kids called There’s a Zoo in My Poo.
Today, Professor Jacka is on the blog to answer a few of our questions about her new book and the weird world of poo. Read on …
Professor Felice Jacka
Tell us about your book, There’s A Zoo in My Poo!
We wrote this book as a way to support and encourage children to make good food choices for themselves. We also wanted to give parents and teachers useful and concrete information on the gut and its importance to health – including brain health – so that they can also support kids to make good dietary choices
What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Diets across the world are pretty appalling and getting worse. This is almost entirely because of huge changes to our food systems and food environment such that ultra-processed ‘junk’ foods are now the cheapest, most widely available, most heavily marketed, and most socially acceptable ‘foods’. Because of this, unhealthy diet is now the main cause of illness and early death across the globe.
In Australia, less than 1% of children eat the recommended amount of vegetables and legumes (primary sources of dietary fibre) and teenagers have an average of seven serves of junk food a day! We’re fast going the way of the USA, where 60% of children alive today will be clinically obese by the time they’re 35 years old. But critically, unhealthy diets can be doing real damage, even when kids are a healthy weight.
There is such a huge need for evidence-based information on what to eat and why. Many young people, and their parents, are very confused about what constitutes a healthy diet, and this is because of the extensive misinformation touted by industry and ‘influencers’. Young people also tend to place little importance on healthy eating as they see illnesses such as heart disease being something that ‘might happen’ off in the future. But we thought that if they knew that what they eat is of direct importance to brain health and the ability to learn and remember AND gave them a very concrete way of understanding it (the gut microbes), then it might make more sense and prompt better dietary habits. We also thought that focusing on the gut and things such as poo, which kids tend to be fascinated by, would make it a book that kids would respond to. We also thought that it would be super fun to write a book together!
How did you go about writing this book and making the information fun and digestible (pardon the pun) for kids?
I am a Professor and the field of research that I have founded and led is called ‘Nutritional Psychiatry’. This field has established the critical importance of a healthy diet to mental health – such as depression – as well as to brain health. A very large number of the studies that we’re now doing are focused on the gut, and the microbiota that live in it, as a very important pathway by which diet influences mental and brain health (as well as the immune system and many other aspects of human health). It’s a truly fascinating and quite revolutionary field of research, and one that people outside of science are also very interested in.
I do a lot of work in science communication – speaking to the public, as well as scientists and healthcare professionals, about the importance of diet to good mental health. I’m increasingly discussing gut microbiota and health, and the fact that what we eat is the most important thing we do to influence our microbes. I thought that a children’s book about it would reach the largest number of people in a way that is, hopefully, fun and accessible.
Rob is a secondary school teacher and musician. He’s always drawn wonderful illustrations of us, our children, our pets, and whatever other nutty creatures he’s thought up. I knew that he’d be great at depicting microbes, so I asked him to join me in writing the book. He also contributed all the great rhymes throughout the book. It was a lot of fun writing it together!
What’s your favourite fun fact about the human body?
That the microscopic bugs that live in our poo might affect our behaviour! That is a truly astounding thought and very unexpected.
Is there anything surprising about the gut that most people don’t know?
One of the things that I think is particularly amazing is that the gut microbiota in little babies – once they are born – play a critically important role in training their immune systems and appear to be also very important in growing a healthy brain. This is why we think that mothers’ diets during pregnancy might be so important.
What do you hope kids will discover in There’s a Zoo in my Poo?
That they can be responsible for their own health and that what they choose to put in their mouths is very important to both how they feel and their ability to study and learn!
And finally, what’s up next for you?
I (Felice) head up the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University. This is a world leading centre of excellence for Nutritional Psychiatry research. We are currently running more than 20 research studies, with many, many more in the planning stages. Our research is all designed to answer key questions about what to eat, and what sorts of food and nutrients might be best for different individuals, with a focus on improving mental and brain health in people everywhere.
Last year I published a book called Brain Changer all about Nutritional Psychiatry – this one was for adults. I would like to write more books on the topic of Nutritional Psychiatry as well as gut health, including another children’s book by us together. I’d also like to do a Food & Mood Centre cookbook!
Thanks!
—There’s a Zoo in My Poo by Felice Jacka & Rob Craw (Pan Macmillan Australia) is out now. Find out more about Professor Jacka’s work here.
There's A Zoo in My Poo
Did you know that trillions of tiny bugs live in and on all of us? And there's a Zoo of bugs in our poo. But which are the good bugs and which are the bad? What should we eat to keep our good bugs happy and our body strong?
Get to the guts of what you need to know about you and your poo. Professor Felice Jacka is a world expert in the field...
Comments
November 17, 2020 at 12:28 pm
There’s a Zoo in my Poo is probably the most important book I have read this year! I will be giving this book as Christmas presents to family and friends, particularly those with children. I also encourage my adult friends to read the book. It’s informative and highly accessible. The book should be part of the science curriculum of every primary and secondary school. I will be giving a copy to my granddaughter’s school library. Thank you so much Felice, and Rob for your brilliant visualisations of our microscopic friends.