Thobeka Makhubela

Julia Nkuna, a 28-year-old Dietician at Leratong Hospital is passionate about people's Nutritional health.
Obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Human Nutrition from University of Limpopo in 2015 and joined the hospital as a Dietician in 2018, Nkuna said she chose Dietetics in 2011 after realising that there is a gap in Nutritional health in the health sector for kids under five years and elderly people. 
"Talking about creating a balance between the family and professional life, Nkuna explained that she organizes her time by drafting a to do list from urgent to non-urgent tasks.
"I'm in a career that is time consuming and hectic, I ensure that I reserve time for work and family, so I believe I'm training my son in understanding that no matter how hectic your work schedule is, family is still important," she said.
To aspiring dietitians, Nkuna said: "You need to work on your strength and not just become an ordinary dietitian because employment rate has dropped very badly.  You need to continue studying and come up with new strategies and ideas that can open new opportunities in the world of dietetics. You also need to work hard and close the gap of some unattended nutritional needs."
Commenting on what she loves about her job, she said: "Improving the Nutritional Health of patients to an extent that they get discharged and live a healthy life again, for instance working with premature babies, they get discharged and come back for growth monitoring until they are old make me feel happy."
Speaking of challenges faced in the workplace she said: "Our main challenge is shortage of stock, however we try to borrow from hospitals around us to make sure that patients have nutritional feeds to better their health."
In conclusion she said: "It would be great if in the new year, dietitians are invited to give inputs on management meetings where needs are discussed so procurement can be done for necessities to improve patient health."
Nkuna shares tips on how to eat healthy:
People need to know that all meals of the day are important, which includes breakfast, lunch, supper and snacking in between.
You need to choose the healthiest snacks in between your meals which can be fruits, dairy products, nuts or salads.
Eating healthy includes healthy cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, grilling, instead of frying
Eating small frequent meals
Drinking water throughout the day and reduce sugary drinks
Reduce salt and sugar intake by reading food levels when shopping.