THE ESSENCE OF GOOD NUTRITION

Do you have a favourite food? If so, what is it? Do you like beans, rice, vegetable soup, or yam? Or is it some other type of food that you especially enjoy?

Good food is needed for a person to grow well, work hard and stay healthy. In many parts of the world, many common illnesses result from the problem of hunger and poor nutrition. Not having enough nutritious food weakens the body’s ability to resist all kinds of diseases, especially infections. Nutritious food helps prevent disease and also helps the sick body fight disease and become well again. So, when a person is sick, eating enough nutritious food is especially important. Anyone who eats a good mixture of foods, including eggs, vegetables, fruits, and other types of foods, gets all the vitamins he needs. It is always better to eat well than to buy vitamin pills, injections, syrups, or tonics.

According to a very valuable healthcare handbook: “Where There Is No Doctor” authored by David Werner and published by Hesperian Health Guides (www.hesperian.org, “To stay healthy, our bodies need plenty of good food. The food we eat has to fill many needs. First, it should provide energy to keep us active and strong. Also, it must help build, repair, and protect the different parts of our bodies. To do all this we need to eat a combination of foods every day.”

However, it is important to note that there is a difference between not eating enough (undernutrition) and not eating right (malnutrition). A person who is weak or sick because he does not eat enough food of any kind is said to be suffering from general malnutrition or undernutrition, while a person who is weak or sick because he does not eat the right kinds of foods his body needs, is said to be suffering from specific types of malnutrition. There are also people who get sick as a result of eating too much of certain foods, like processed and “junk” foods. People who eat a lot of these foods are more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, gallstones, diabetes, and some cancers.

There are many different reasons for hunger and poor nutrition. One main reason is poverty. In many parts of the world, a few people own most of the wealth and the land. They may grow crops like coffee or tobacco, which they sell to make money, but which have no food value. Or the poor may farm small plots of borrowed land, while the owners take a big share of the harvest. The problem of hunger, food insecurity and poor nutrition will continue to exist until people learn to share with each other fairly.

There are many different ways to approach the problem of hunger and poor nutrition, for many different things join to cause it. Some of the things that people can do to help themselves meet their needs for better nutrition at low cost include: creating family gardens; improving their use of land through the rotation of crops; irrigation of land; use of natural fertilizers; better food storage; fish breeding; choosing to have smaller families through family planning; and so forth. Some actions bring quick results. Others work over a longer period of time.

Also, when money is limited, it is important to use it wisely. This means cooperation and looking ahead. A poor family can usually be better nourished if they grow or buy plant foods like beans, peas, lentils, and groundnuts together with a main food such as maize or rice, rather than buy costly animal foods like meat and fish. It is good to eat a variety of plant foods. Different plants supply the body with different proteins, vitamins, and minerals. For example, beans and maize together meet the body’s needs much better than either beans or maize alone. And if other vegetables or fruits are added, this is even better. However, where family finances and local customs permit, it is wise to eat, when possible, some food that comes from animals. This is because even plants high in protein often do not have all of the different proteins the body needs.

** Daniel Ighakpe,**

FESTAC Town, Lagos State