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Nutrition Education Improves Health Outcomes
Author: Praises Padambo
Nutrition Education Improves Health Outcomes
Some months ago, our Healthcare team embarked on a journey of discovering the hidden threat of malnutrition in our community. This journey involved assessing the nutrition status of pregnant mothers, lactating women and under-5-year-old children. We are happy that the results we got from this assessment have helped us take another step closer to defeating this challenge in our community.
At Orant, we recognise and value the critical role nutrition plays in human development and national economic development. We recognise that good nutrition is the backbone of a healthy community and its benefits extend beyond human health. Good nutrition is a contributing factor in reducing maternal and child health challenges, minimizing disease prevalence and promoting economic productivity. Obviously, if the people in the community are not healthy or they frequently get sick, they can not be productive, thus affecting the economic status of their community. This also implies that if we have a community with good nutritional status, there will be reduction or almost no issues of low birth weight, stillbirths, birth malformations and other maternal related health challenges.
“Having a community with good nutrition status also helps minimize various diseases thereby reducing service delivery costs. Of course we cannot deny the fact that good nutrition also improves school attendance as well as school retention for children which contributes to national education,” says George Matapandeu, our Clinical Officer and Nutritionist.
In June 2024, our Healthcare team conducted a nutrition assessment in our community, revealing alarming statistics. 7% of women of child-bearing age, including pregnant and lactating women, and children faced malnutrition-related health risks. This finding sparked our Healthcare team’s determination to take action.
In response, in September 2024, our Healthcare team conducted a six day cooking demonstration activity in the communities around Kasese. This initiative came from the understanding that apart from the challenge of food availability, sometimes communities have food in excess but they face challenges when it comes to its preparation. Thus, this initiative, aimed at equipping participants with essential knowledge and skills in:
- Good food preparation
- Behaviour change
- Cultural exchange
- Food safety education
- Healthy food choices
- Food handling or preparation tips
At Orant we are committed to creating and inspiring healthier and prosperous communities. We believe that by addressing the issue of malnutrition in our community, we are contributing to the economy of Kasese and Malawi at large.
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