MANDY SMITH Healthy eating habits are multiplying as fast as rabbits at a Flaxmere kindergarten. The unpaid but enthusiastic nutritional teacher, who doesn't have to say a word, has really got the youngsters thinking about "yummy" things such as carrots and other vege things. He's also the sort of teacher they can't resistapproaching for a cuddle. Meet Peter Rabbit, a two-year-old giant flemish, who is encouraging the children at Morgan Educare Centre to make sensible food choices. The children have been taught that if Peter Rabbit can eat scraps from the contents of their lunch boxes, then it's probably healthy for them, too, manager Paula Morgan said. "His favourites are celery, dry natural food and things that smell nice, like coriander and parsley." Not exactly yum-magnets for little ones, but that is slowly changing at the centre. The house-trained rabbit is also partial to peanuts, but the centre does not promote them because of the growing number of peanut allergies in children. Since becoming the face of the centre's nutrition programme, which also incorporates active movement, children had begun bringing more vegetables and fruit in their lunches, Ms Morgan said. They're also leaving the not-so-healthy food in their lunchboxes: "I saw a child put a packet of chips back in his lunch box and take it home the other day." But it wasn't long ago Peter Rabbit almost became a meal. Ms Morgan spotted him wandering lost and bewildered in her neighbourhood back in February and, fearing he would be mauled by a roaming pack of dogs, gave him a home at the centre. To her delight, the big-eared cuddly volunteer nutritionist settled in beautifully. "The children love him. In fact they love him too much sometimes - we have to give him time-out."
