Nikki Houlihan and Amy Ashman, both nutritional students at the University of Newcastle. The girls were part of the Fast Food Challenge and were chefs for healthy eating.
IT was a cook-off of a different kind, with teams battling it out between nutrition and time at last week's inaugural Fast Food Challenge.
While the menu might have looked deceptively unhealthy (pizza, hamburger and the classic fish and chips), University of Newcastle students and professors united to show that cooking our favourite takeaway meals can be both healthy and achievable for the time-poor.
Spurred on by Australia's Healthy Weight Week and increasing statistics on young Australian women preferring to eat takeaway up to three times a week, Professor Clare Collins and her students decided it was time to take action.
The challenge was set - three students would cook the healthier option, while another three participants would order the same meal at the local takeaway store.
The results were judged on cost, taste, nutritional value and cooking or delivery time.
The challenge saw all three healthy options cooked in under 30 minutes and dominate the nutritional stakes.
However, the takeaway burger was the first item to be plated up after 21 minutes.
Professor Collins said now was the time for young women to change their eating habits.
"With young Australian women identified as those becoming obese at the fastest rate it is time for all young women to take the challenge," she said.
"This is not a proud statistic, we need to try and be proactive.
"Cooking fast food at home regularly could be the answer to changing unhealthy food habits and solving weight problems," Professor Collins said
Similarly, nutrition students and healthy chefs for the day Nikki Houlihan and Amy Ashman said they generally opted to prepare food at home.
However, they were susceptible to the occasional takeaway treat.
