Nutritional Guides For Families

Families tend to consume different food, employ various cooking techniques and have differing amounts of time, money and other resources at their disposal. Furthermore, each has individual beliefs regarding nutrition.

Prioritize information you want to share with groups or families and select effective communication methods; consider local recipes and food demonstrations (see Topic 2) before conducting field tests before creating the final draft version of your guide.

Topic 1: Why we need to eat well

Everyone requires a nutritious diet to gain enough energy for work and leisure activities. Nutritional needs vary according to age, sex and whether a woman is menstruating, pregnant or breastfeeding.

This guide is written for health and nutrition educators working with families. When providing advice to people, it’s useful to first assess their knowledge, beliefs, and traditions related to food before tailoring topics accordingly. Also look out for any barriers preventing people from changing their feeding practices, then find solutions that help overcome them.

Topic 2: Making good family meals

For optimal family meals, select a wide range of food each week – fruits and vegetables; legumes; animal products and fat or oil to boost energy and enhance flavor.

Teach children how to prepare simple snacks and meals at home. Involving children in cooking will increase the odds that they try new food; eating dinner together as often as possible builds strong families and healthy relationships around food – even sharing an informal snack after school can still provide beneficial bonding time!

Topic 3: Combining foods

Common belief holds that certain foods must be eaten together, like proteins with carbohydrates. This theory stems from our bodies processing different food at different speeds and having different transit times through our digestive tracts.

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Combining carbs, healthy fats and protein sources into a meal plan is crucial to managing blood sugar levels and fulfilling energy requirements. Doing this can keep people satisfied and full for longer. Evaluate this guide together with educators who will be using it locally and discuss it among yourselves before taking action.

Topic 4: Keeping food safe and clean

Each year millions of people fall ill from eating contaminated food. While contaminated meals may make you feel sick at first, they can lead to serious health problems and even lead to death. To stay safe and avoid becoming ill follow four simple rules of Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill.

Before adapting or using the guide, conduct field-tests with educators and target families in order to ensure it provides practical as well as technically and culturally accurate information. Assess whether it helps families improve their feeding practices and any changes that have resulted from its implementation.

Topic 5: Keeping food fresh

Food waste is frustrating and costly; follow a few simple rules to extend its shelf life and minimize waste.

Start by testing your guide with educators: health workers, nutritionists, agricultural extension staff and community leaders. Evaluate and adjust as necessary based on feedback gathered. You could modify Topic 1 advice according to food availability or eating habits of families living nearby; as well as customize text and illustrations accordingly for local circumstances.

Topic 6: Keeping food tasty

Assuring people of the dates on food labels can help them avoid buying and using expired or spoilage foods, while providing kids with new healthy options and encouraging them to become food critics are both excellent ways of keeping foods tasty.

As you use your guide, take care to tailor nutrition notes specifically to different groups and families (see Box 2). It may also be worthwhile field-testing the advice with educators and family members before finalizing it – this will ensure it remains relevant, useful and easy-to-understand.

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Topic 7: Keeping food healthy

Many individuals were involved in creating this guide. A special thank you goes to Anna Mswata and Grace Maina who offered invaluable practical advice, while Charity Dirorimwe provided invaluable expertise on family feeding practices.

This guide is intended for health workers, nutritionists, agricultural extension staff or any professionals working with families; however, it could also be utilized by community groups or individual family members. Before using, field test the guide with educators and target families in order to ensure its information is relevant and applicable.

Topic 8: Keeping food nutritious

Engaging children and adults alike in food preparation can increase their interest and enthusiasm for it, potentially increasing consumption rates.

Encourage people to check both sell by and use by dates on food labels as certain nutrients may deteriorate with age.

Field test your guide with educators and families in order to make sure the information and advice given is relevant for local conditions, while being easy for families to use. FAO may provide additional technical support if necessary.

Topic 9: Keeping food tasty for children

Engaging children in cooking and food preparation makes healthy foods more appealing and appealing. Allow them to choose what to cook or add an ingredient they particularly enjoy for an unforgettable meal!

Avoid processed sugar and artificial sweeteners and provide meals rich in vegetables, fruit and low-fat dairy products instead.

Some countries or regions may choose to modify this guide for their particular circumstances, which requires more in-depth preparation of material – please follow these guidelines as a starting point. Doing so enriches it with local knowledge and experiences while also creating opportunities to introduce specific messages tailored specifically for local situations.

Topic 10: Keeping food healthy for adults

People require proper nutrition to remain active and healthy, as well as to achieve or sustain a healthy weight.

This guide draws from today’s best scientific thinking and must be tailored to the local context by educators working with families – health workers, nutritionists, agricultural extension and development workers as well as members of community groups – adapted by them according to local circumstances. Field testing with these educators should ensure easy implementation in their daily work activities.

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