strategy

Educating in nutrition

Synonyms:
Increasing nutrition knowledge
Improving awareness of dietary deficiencies
Improving awareness of alternative nutritious foods available
Informing on nutrition practices
Implementing nutritional care procedures
Providing fundamental nutrition services
Description:
Educating in the provision of an adequate and/or healthy diet by improving awareness of nutritious foods, dietary deficiencies and the alternatives available, and related nutritional matters such as preparing and storing foods to optimize nutritional benefits.
Context:
Improving nutrition knowledge may be a powerful mechanism to achieve nutritional and health gains in both well-nourished and needy populations worldwide.
Implementation:
Several UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects in 1993 sought to build up knowledge both in and of nutritionally vulnerable groups. One project in Viet Nam, for example, successfully reduced vitamin A deficiency by improving women's awareness of dietary deficiencies and the alternatives available to them. Households were encouraged either to learn to identify and grow the foods they need in home gardens to fill their dietary gaps, or to use the income from home gardens to purchase those fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin A that they could not easily cultivate. Other FAO activities in 1993, in the field include among others: an Intercountry Workshop on Nutritional Education for South and East Asian Countries; a Near East regional training course; national training activities in Latin American and African countries; assisting policy-makers identify needy groups, and specialists helping governments determine the impact of their nutrition programmes. FAO has produced country nutrition profiles for 100 developing countries to provide a concise view of their food and nutrition status, and agricultural production.

[You Are What You Eat: A Gide to Good Nutrition] is a prizewinning educational tool, developed by students, on the Internet at http://library.advanced.org/11163.

Claim:
Practices of nutrition improve the quality of health, and lengthen life.
Counter Claim:
Nutrition is a fad and an empty slogan where economic injustice does not allow people to reach even subsistence levels.
Type Classification:
G: Very Specific strategies
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
GOAL 1: No PovertyGOAL 2: Zero HungerGOAL 3: Good Health and Well-beingGOAL 4: Quality EducationGOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and ProductionGOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal