Greg Lessons took home a prize at the Public Sector Catering Awards, in recognition of his work to pioneer a dietary and lifestyle intervention programme for firefighters.
Date: 24 September 2020
London Met PhD candidate Greg Lessons has won the Health and Nutrition category at the Public Sector Catering Awards.
Public Sector Catering is focussed on delivering a healthy and nutritious service across the industry. The Awards look to recognise good practice in the delivery of a clear health and nutrition strategy within an individual area or across the sector.
The Health and Nutrition Award is given to a person or project which has encouraged the concept of ‘eating for health,’ and must show evidence of how any strategy has radically altered service delivery and raised awareness of health among consumers.
Greg said: “It’s so satisfying for my work to be recognised by such a reputable organisation. The significant post-intervention improvements in the fire station food environment and firefighter dietary behaviour are now paying dividends in terms of significant improvements in body composition, and improved markers for health.”
Greg spent 17 years working as a firefighter, undertaking a Human Nutrition (Public Health/Sports) MSc at London Met towards the end of this career. His dissertation focused on the dietary behaviour of firefighters and concomitant prevalence of overweight and obesity within this occupational group, which led to the development of a fire-station based dietary and lifestyle intervention pilot trial.
He has since changed career to become the first full-time nutritionist employed by any fire brigade, and is working towards his doctorate. His PhD focuses on the development and integration of innovative tools and components for a pioneering, multi-level, dietary and lifestyle fire station based intervention programme to help improve health of firefighters.
