4EATING WELL

Home Gardening and Nutrition Training Material

Eating healthy and wise

1. A balanced and diverse diet

Having a balanced and diverse diet:

– keeps our bodies and minds healthy,

– gives the body energy to function well and

be active,

– helps the body to fight infections and illness,

– helps children to develop to their full

potential,

– contributes to safer pregnancy and child

birth.

• A healthy diet includes a variety of foods from different groups.

• Too much as well as too little food is bad for our body.

1. A balanced and diverse diet

A healthy balanced diet has the right proportions of good quality foods, as shown in the figure:

1. A balanced and diverse diet Staples: Should be the biggest portion on the plate and the main component of your diet. They provide energy and help our body grow and repair.

Vegetables and fruits: Should represent around 1/3 of the plate. Have plenty of them – as snacks between meals for example. They protect our body against illness.

Animal foods and legumes: Should be a smaller portion of the plate. They enable our body to grow and repair. Every day, one should have at least ONE of them.

1. A balanced and diverse diet

Fats and oils: Should form a small part of the plate (e.g. 3-4 tbs per day per person). They provide energy and improve protective function of vegetables.

Why drinking safe water?

– Water is needed for digestion and

absorption.

– Dirty water can carry diseases (e.g.

diarrhoea), malnutrition and mortality.

1. A balanced and diverse diet

Each person needs to drink 8 glasses of safe water a day.

2. Food preservation• Why preserving food?– To have food products available when they

are out of season or in short supply– To help ensuring a diversity of nutrients

• How to preserve food?–Bottling, drying, or freezing

3. Special needs

3. a. Mother and child feeding Healthy eating for women is crucial especially: - During pregnancy- When breastfeeding - When feeding a young child

Proper feeding enables:- The mother to feel well and active.- Making birth easier.- Proper growth and development of the child.- Helping the mother to breastfeed the baby successfully.

3. a. Mother and child feeding Pregnant women: - Eat extra nutritious snacks during the day. - Take iron and folic acid tablets prescribed at the health centre. - Attend ante-natal clinics as instructed by the health personnel.

Breastfeeding mothers: - Eat a little more at each meal/have smaller frequent meals. - Eat nutritious snacks between meals. - Take vitamin A capsules. - Attend post-natal clinics.

3. a. Mother and child feeding

Feeding Children over 6 months:- Breastfeeding until 2 years old highly recommended. - From 6 months old, give complementary foods in addition to breastfeeding.

Feeding babies aged 0–6 months: - Exclusive breastfeeding for babies under 6 months of age. - Attend health centre monthly for growth monitoring.

Feeding the babies of HIV-infected mothers

3. a. Mother and child feeding

• HIV-infected mothers on ART should:- adhere to medication - breastfeed exclusively their babies under 6 months

- introduce complementary foods when the child is 6 months

- continue to breastfeed until the child is 12 months.• After 12 months of age, breastfeeding should

stop ONLY once a nutritionally adequate and safe diet without the breast milk can be provided to the infant.

3. b. Preventing malnutrition

Children are at risk of malnutrition when they:– Are not eating the right foods in

quantity, quality and diversity.– Suffer from diseases (e.g. diarrhoea) or

infections (e.g. hookworms, HIV/AIDS).

The risk of malnutrition is high for children, especially from 6 months to 2 years old, when breast milk is no longer enough for the growth and development of babies.This is a critical time for growth monitoring.

Malnutrition can be prevented with: a diverse, balanced diet and good hygiene practices.

3. c. The elderlyElderly people need to eat well to stay healthy. Prioritize: - Dairy

- Fruits and vegetables

- WaterElderly may lose appetite and have more difficulty to chew.

Bear this in mind when preparing the meals.3. d. ObesityOverweight can be caused by eating too much of staple foods, fats or sugar. Consequences can be: - Diabetes - Less energy - Heart diseases - Less endurance- High blood pressure

!