Dietician advises her patients on food choices to help themselves
MORAG Mckellar has spent more than 40 years trying to improve health through better nutrition, from working with patients as a hospital dietician to advising on prison menus and national diet action plans.
Her 43-year career in the NHS began in 1975 when she qualified as a dietician.
She said: “It was something I fell into. My mother had worked as a nurse, and the science of nutrition was something that I found interesting.
“For me it’s about the science of nutrition and how you can help someone’s recovery and improve their health by helping them make the right choices about what they eat.
“I think that’s the most rewarding bit of the job, when you can see someone getting better and making a change.”
In the 1990s, Ms Mckeller was instrumental in developing guidelines which have shaped the vision of what a balanced diet should be.
She also played a key role in the development of the NHS Forth Valley Food Policy, the first of its kind in Scotland.
As a public health nutritionist, she has been recognised locally and nationally for her work on nutrition strategy and related public health policies, and was elected a Fellow of the British Dietetic Association in recognition of her contribution to the profession.
Now 65, she leads allied health professional services for children in NHS Forth Valley.