Niki Bezzant: A white Christmas at last

The historic city of Salzburg is very scenic during Christmas time. Photo / 123RF

Opinion

Until now, I'd never in my life experienced a winter Christmas.

Now that I am here in Salzburg, Austria, I'm having odd, pinch-me moments regularly. All of the Christmas imagery that has informed my lifetime of southern-hemisphere festive seasons, is here in its proper, winter place, and it's a bit like being in a movie.

That extends to the food traditions. While Austrians have specific Christmas foods and drinks – gluhwein; stollen; chestnuts and spiced cookies – that we don't share, the origins of our Christmas menus can be seen in the festive food Europeans gravitate towards, when it makes a lot more sense for them to be eating them than it does for us, in the summer. The hearty roast meats and vegetables, the hot puddings and cakes feel far more appropriate when the temperature is nudging zero. I love how the Europeans embrace Christmas, and how much of the festivity centres around food.

It's also interesting to note that wherever we are, our habits at this time of year tend to be the same. We'll overindulge for a day; a few days; a week – and then we'll seek to atone once the new year rolls around.

The UK's Royal Society for Public Health has produced a tool it says might short-circuit this predictable cycle. It's an "activity equivalent" labelling tool, and it defines how much the foods we eat – including festive ones – are costing us in terms of energy. It's simplistic: how long someone would need to walk or run to burn off the calories in a specific food. It's only talking about energy, not the quality or otherwise of the food. Still, there's evidence to show this has the potential to help moderate energy intake. The Society says over half of people would positively change their behaviour after viewing front-of-pack activity equivalent labelling.

The Society's "Wheel the Burn" Christmas tool features an array of festive foods. It demonstrates, for example, that a mince pie would take approximately 48 minutes of walking or 18 minutes of running to burn off. A serving of Christmas pudding with cream: two and a half hours of walking or 56 minutes of running. And a turkey dinner with all the trimmings would take almost a marathon: over four hours of walking and an hour 40 minutes of running.

Christmas fair in Austria. Photo / 123RF

I asked one of the team at the Society if they'd ever been accused of being the Christmas fun police, as I expected might be the case. He said no, although there had been a reaction from groups dealing with eating disorders that such a tool could be triggering.

That of course wasn't the intention. It's intended to be something that helps people think about what they're eating in a context they understand.

I don't want to be the Christmas fun police either. So I say keep in mind that yes, festive foods are indulgent. But don't let that stop you embracing the spirit of the season and what those foods mean: sharing; connection; family and love.

*Niki Bezzant is in Salzburg as a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar.