ENCOURAGING people in Fiji and the Pacific to eat nutritious food is part and parcel of her work and life.
Before she came to work in Fiji, she studied nutrition and dietetics at Otago University, followed by post-graduate studies in the School of Nutrition at Cornell University in the United States.
And 88-year-old Susan Parkinson, originally from Masterton in New Zealand, is one of the pioneer nutritionist to be sent by the British government in 1950 to work for the South Pacific Health Services as the regional nutritionist.
"My work is to look after the nutrition for all those Pacific islands and territories under British rule," she said.
Reminiscing those days, Ms Parkinson said it was a great challenge for her to come and work in a different setting and one she looked forward to.
"When I came, I was amazed that the food eaten by the people of Fiji and the Pacific were very nutritious.
"They eat rootcrops such as dalo, yams and kumala which were high in energy.
"There were a lot of coconut used in their food and fish, not to mention the green leaves that have high nutrient value like bele," she added.
When she came to Fiji, Ms Parkinson said she loved her work because of the support given to her by the government then and the nurses she worked with.
"I can still remember the time we went to Namosi.
"There was no road that goes to Navua, so we had to go to Naitasiri and then ride the boat and then ride on the horse before we visited all the villages in Namosi."
As she settled down in Fiji, she found that a lot of pregnant women then were not eating nutritious food which gives them high iron level.
"There were also quite a lot of children who were malnourished at that time.
"Children who were weaned were not given proper protein food," she explained.
She said that until now, a lot of women in Fiji still lacked iron, that is why anaemic cases are on the increase.
Looking back at the impact of her work in Fiji, she is thankful that the Fiji government realised the importance of the health status of its people which led to the formation of the Fiji National Food and Nutrition Committee in 1976.
She said one of the important roles of the committee was to conduct national nutrition surveys for every 10 years.
Ms Parkinson was also instrumental in the inclusion of Nutrition and Dietetics course at the Fiji School of Medicine.
"Getting the government to recognise the importance of the work we do and getting people to embrace the importance of nutrition for their families gives me satisfaction in what I do," she said.
In 1956, when she got married, she resigned from her work as regional nutritionist and concentrated on writing her publications.
"I was married at that time, and raising a family is important but it did not stop me from doing what I love."
She has written many publications which are used by many people in Fiji and the region including 10 cooking books and booklets.
One of the handbooks she wrote which proved to be an educational one is the Taste of the Tropics.
This book has four editions, the first one published was in 1964.
One of Ms Parkinson's advice to people is for families in Fiji to try to eat a lot of nutritious food which are available locally and not depend too much on imported food.
"Also for people to have their own vegetable gardens at home, that will save a lot of money for them."
