George, this is exactly the reason for linking agriculture to nutrition so that people are able to produce the foods that provide the nutrients they need.
Hello everyone,
This is just a round up of hat has been discussed so far in this forum. Thank you to all those that have made an input.
When I go through the discussion, I realize that we know what nutrition is but most of us are just explaining issues related to nutrition rather than explain what it is and its importance. This is one area we need to work on especially as broadcasters who need to give our audience that kind of information. Monica @monica gave us an explanation of what nutrition is " Nutrition is having a balanced meal with all the important food groups. Without proper nutrition your health will be in shambles and if its a child, brain development depend on proper nutrition. If a child is malnourished then in the future that child will have difficulties in health as well as in school, this will contribute the child to be a slow learner in class and everything!"
At the same time George @mwamodo gave this explanation: “From my understanding as layperson in this field, nutrition is the process of supplying the body with the required supplements to aid its growth and good health. The body needs carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and lipids for a well functional metabolism. These supplements must also be adequate to meet the body’s well being. All these intakes need to be in the right proportions so that the body is holistically developed…” Discussions clearly show that nutrition is more about balanced diet. Sarah @smawerere went a little further and explained the importance of nutrition, “nutrition in simple terms is what makes up good health. And good health is said to come from essential foods which the body requires to give good health. The foods have to contain the required nutrients like; carbohydrates which are are got in foods like maize, rice and potatoes. These provide energy to the body. Proteins found in fish, meat and insects do contribute to good functioning of the body and vitamins which include all other nutrients are essential for good health and body. These however, have to be given in a balanced diet in order for the body to get what it requires.”
Sarah and Daniel @danielDWET shared their nutrition broadcasting experiences and both mention some gaps that need to be addressed. As mentioned by Sarah, when you introduce nutrition, people always think that you are talking about expensive food stuffs they cannot afford.
We still welcome your contributions and our experts are on standby.
Hallo everyone,
I am very glad to share with you the following after reading the resources about Nutrition.
What is Nutrition?
To me Nutrition refers to everything that one eats and drinks because a human body uses nutrients from the food to function properly and to stay healthy. The keys to good nutrition are balance, variety and moderation that is eating neither too much nor too little of any food or nutrient.
Nutrition is also a science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and the substances in food whereby to stay healthy, the body needs the right balance of the energy giving foods, the carbohydrates such as maize, rice, potatoes and other grain-based products; the body building foods, Proteins, which include meat, fish, eggs, beans, peas oats and others; then the body protecting foods, the Vitamins, which are found in fruits ad freshly green vegetables as well as essential fats which give the body warmth and flexibility, these are from vegetable oils such as Olives.
Nutrition relates to body maintenance, growth reproduction, health and diseases; it includes food intake, absorption, digestion and excretion as well.
Why is Nutrition important?
The diet is what one eats, which is largely determined by the availability, processing and deliciousness of foods. A health diet includes food preparation and storage methods that preserve nutrients from corrosion, heat or leakage and that reduces risk of food-born illnesses.
Poor nutrition can cause health problems, overweight and obesity. Some of the health problems associated with poor nutrition can be very serious especially in children (mostly in urban areas in Africa) as they grow into adults, that is why it is important that people are told/taught healthy eating habits to prevent these health problems. It is also much easier to maintain a healthy weight than it is to loose weight.
Now here are my views in response to the questions raised by both Nelly and Busi on Nutrition and its importance.
- Why do you think it is important to talk about nutrition?
Regarding this question, I can say that it is very important for us Farmer program presenters to talk about nutrition because it is what makes the farmers. They need to be informed of what to eat and what not to eat in order to remain healthy so as to be able to till their land everyday and all the time. Being a working force, they need to be healthy both in body and in mind. It is good nutrition which can put farmers in this healthy state so they can get the strength they need to work on their farms as well as use their sound and healthy minds to think on what to do and how to improve on their farming. And also, most peasant farmers have a tendency of neglecting their health and that of their families, they sell off all their produce for money and forget about themselves and their family needs when it comes to feeding.
For example, most poultry farmers sell off their eggs without giving any to the family until on such a day when an accident will occur and one or two eggs break, that will be the change for family members to consume an egg other wise they are all for sale! Even the milk. Farmers despise the vegetables they grow as being a poor person’s diet in preference to the urban peoples fried stuff which in most cases are junk! - What has been your experience with broadcasting about nutrition? I think I have talked a lot about nutrition in my programs, I have invited experts (Nutritionists) who have explained the importance of good feeding and also eating a balanced diet. The farmers seem to like the programs because they raise a lot of question about their health problems in relation to food consumption. They testify, on air, that they had changed their way of eating after hearing an expert talking about good feeding. I therefore urge fellow Broadcasters to make sure that we tell our audiences what we can lay hand on about Nutrition so as to save them from food related ailments and diseases such as heart diseases, cancer, stroke and diabetes. We should make them change their lifestyles and convince them to do exercises as it is part of good health, tell the to avoid tobacco smoking and drinking alcohol excessively, stress management and how to limit exposure to environmental hazards.
- How have I explained the concept of nutrition to my listener?
Well, how I have done this is explained in (2) above that is inviting exeperts who explain issue to them as well as answer their questions; I explain to them what I get on Nutrition, such as the resource material we have just been given by the experts in this couse, I have used them plus others from my research, I get people who are suffering from diseases to talk about their diseases and what their diet id, of course I do not do it directly, but some how I make them talk. Phone ins helps the people to share experiences. - What farmers seem to know about nutrition: Farmers seem to know a lot about nutrition, but they have learn t it from our radio programs, they say so themselves. But they say it is not easy for them to stop eating and drinking things which they have been consuming all their live. For example, they like fatty meat, to stop eating is they just say “Is it the one which killed my father or mother ?”, they know a lot but the problem is changes their habits gotten from their ancestors.
5.The most difficult part of reporting and broadcasting nutrition: People feel that they know what to eat and they eat what is available in their areas also they eat what they can afford which makes it difficult to convince them to adopt new ways of eating especially those who can afford expensive meals and those who are cattle keepers for instance, they can not stop consuming their milk straight from the cow yet this causes tuberculosis and brucella- a type of fever that is caused by consuming meat or drinking milk from a sick cow and they are aware but they say they have been drinking it that way since time in memorial
- Yes, I think Nutrition should be talked about more for people to understand its importance and given th radio audience they understand something’s importance after it has been repeated several times on radio so there is need for it to be talked about. Secondly, some of them might not have heard the previous programs and when the message is repeated it will give the a chance to hear and take heed. You never now. That is broadcasting. You give out the info and whoever listens in may act. Thank you.
Nutrition is very important because it is the foundation of human development, it is the cornerstone for development, that is why we have policies on nutrition in our countries. There is local adage that goes " A hungry person is an angry person" 
If people are well informed on nutrition, they will be able to contribute meaningfully to the development of the nation. Nutrition is an issue that needs more awareness.It is not just about eating so much food but the right amount and quality. There are also people who think its simple and they do not need information,but when we go to our communities we see people that need information on nutrition. Somewhere in Rumphi district in Malawi I met a farmer who said, i have been growing tobacco,but now I want to grow different crops for purpose of dietary diversification, I was impressed that he is even making a lot of money through cassava,his fellow farmers were laughing at him thinking he is mad because he has stipped growing tobacco which earned him lots of money. So another gap i see that needs to be addressed is informing farmers to grow crops that are nutrition sensitive.
Experience in broadcasting nutrition
There is a demand for information on nutrition, when we aired a program on nutrition, we received feedback in form of questions from both men and women questions like: How can I make soy milk? How does Moringa or baobab help boost immune system. I also noted that It is not easy to define some jargons such vitamins and minerals to local language. The broadcasters too needed some content training on nutrition by nutrition experts before delivering the radio program.
The ways we have been defining the concept
Nutrition is having a balanced diet of the six food groups and we tried to put them in a jingle so that it can be played from time to time. Nutrition is family issue not for women only and that is foundation of health families.
Dear @kinabonutrition, you asked the following question with regard to comments made by some of our French broadcasters: “As journalists what weapons do you need to be able to help us in this fight against malnutrition?” Below are the answers they gave. (We translated them from French into English) What are your thoughts around this? And also what do you think @Bibi
What do others think?
Reply by @alain_georges
“Globally speaking, a journalist must have access to information relating to malnutrition. He or she can get this information through « how-to » manuals and discussion forums such as the one we are having at the moment. But a particular attention should be paid to stories gathered on the field because when we listen to a story, it has a more powerful impact than writings.
Personally, I think a journalist should be encouraged to adapt this issue in relation to his or her environment. He must be led to realize that the issue he or she is talking about concerns his or her family circle, the child of the neighbour, an aunt, a cousin or a friend. In short, he or she needs to be aware of the fact that people around him or her also are concerned by these problems. In this regard, the journalist must collaborate with health staff and other development officers working in the field of nutrition.”
Reply from @seydoucamara
“Thanks to the nutrition expert for raising this issue and thanks to my older brother @alain_geoges for his brilliant ideas. In fact, if we want to overcome nutrition problems, journalists must, as Alain said, get updated information on nutrition through training sessions and take part in a major awareness and information campaign conducted in countries affected by malnutrition problems, especially in remote areas (countryside), which have no access to information. Authorities who don’t seem too interested in this issue should be made more aware. Here in Yanfolila, Mali, we have a health unit, which from time to time organizes nutrition days for children (those in good health and those suffering from malnutrition) in the health centre. During these days, nutritionists explain why nutrition is important and they teach women how children and pregnant women must be fed adequately. Children who suffer from malnutrition are treated for free. These activities must be developed everywhere and they must be supported in order to be maintained over time. In my humble opinion, this is how this problem could be solved.”
Nutrtion is the study of the processes of growth, repair and maintenance of the living bodies resulting from the in-take of food. It also invoves the study of substances or nutrient contained in food.
Nutition is important in a sense that,
- It helps the individual to know the chemical substances in food that provide energy and raw material required by biochemical reactions.
- It helps us understand the disease condition that results when the nutrients are not consumed in the correct proportion as required by the body.
- Moreover, it tells us more about insufficient total amount of nutrients and an excess amount of nutrients comsumed.
It is nutrition that make or let individuals knows why it is important for us to be eating or taking balance diet. So therefore we need to educate more on this to win more souls and not to be loosing more lives due to the in-take of wrong meals.
Hello Francis @ChugPope
Thank you for coming in and contributing to this discussion. You will also notice that we have other discussion threads like the linking agricultural production to nutrition as well as gender and nutrition