Eat for Goals hits Helsinki

UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ in Finland is being used to promote the book Eat for Goals!, a joint venture between UEFA, the European Commission and the World Heart Federation (WHF), in which 13 leading footballers give their favourite nutritious recipes.

Stars' recipes
The book, launched in 2008, is aimed at children aged five to eleven, to encourage them to eat healthily with the use of simple-to-make dishes from some of the most famous names in the game. It features dishes including Steven Gerrard's crunchy sea bream with herbs, Carles Puyol's pasta with pesto and grilled vegetables and Miroslav Klose's power omelette, plus suggestions from three players involved at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™: Denmark midfielder Cathrine Paaske Sørensen, Germany captain Birgit Prinz and England's Kelly Smith. The players also talk about their favourite food and drink and there are also nutrition tips.

Good fun
The president of the WHF, Finnish specialist Professor Pekka Puska, explained why they had chosen footballers and to work with UEFA to communicate the message of healthy eating in an age when obesity is on the increase. "Cooking is fun and what is better than having these famous role models to show their own favourite recipes, to show that healthy food can be nice, look beautiful and taste good when you learn to eat it?" he said. "It is a question of future health. The kind of lifestyles you learn as children tend to continue throughout adulthood."

Reaching out
Smith has been voted among the top five in the last three FIFA Women's World Player of the Year awards and was a winner of countless honours with Arsenal LFC before her 2009 move to American professional club Boston Breakers. She said: "I'm very proud to be part of Eat for Goals! It is something I was definitely interested in; I've had a great time talking about food and how important it is for youngsters to eat the right amount of food and the right foods in order to give them a healthy balanced diet.

Role models
"Child obesity is a worrying problem so 13 of us have put together our favourite recipes, and how these foods make us perform better on the field. We can reach out to youngsters and nip obesity in the bud. I was really proud to be selected and be one of three women's footballers in this book. I wish I'd had this book as a youngster. They can look at their role models and try and model themselves on myself and other female athletes."

Languages
UEFA, as part of its ongoing football and social responsibility efforts, identified the Eat for Goals! project as a good way to talk to a large and young public about the importance of good food and daily exercise. Eat for Goals! is available in English, French, German, Polish, and Spanish through various publishers as listed below, with Dutch, Russian, Italian and Turkish versions to follow in the autumn.

• Eat for Goals! – A & C Black Publishers, London www.acblack.com £9.99
• Mieux manger pour marquer! – Editions Amphora, Paris www.ed-amphora.fr €12.90
• Kochen mit Kick! – Falkemedia, Kiel www.falkemedia-shop.de €12.90
• Jem zdrowo i strzelam gole! – EneDueRabe, Gdansk www.eneduerabe.eu ZŁ 33.00
• Ешь и забивай! – Russian Football Union, Moscow www.rfs.ru РУБ 490.00
• Las recetas de los campeones! – StarBook y LEO, Madrid www.starbook.es €12.90
• Italian version – Giunti Editore, Florence www.giunti.it tbc
• Sağlıklı Beslen, Çok Gol At! – Caretta Publishing, Istanbul www.carettareklam.com tbc

UEFA donation
The book can be ordered directly from the publishers or from booksellers such as Amazon. Purchasers will be helping more children as UEFA will donate €1 from the sale of each book in support of the World Heart Federation's programmes encouraging children to be physically active.