Food & Nutrition Guidelines - Food and Agriculture ...

1 food & Nutrition Guidelinesfor namibia Ministry of Health and Social ServicesWindhoek, namibia , 2000 The information contained in this booklet may be quoted freely, provided thatreference is made to the source. Three copies of the material/documentdeveloped using the information contained in this booklet should be sent totheMinistry of Health and Social ServicesAttention: food and Nutrition UnitPrivate Bag 13198, Windhoek, NamibiaISBN 0-86976-484-5 Illustrations: Mel FutterForewordIn namibia , a large portion of the population suffers from various forms ofmalnutrition as a consequence of an inadequate food intake.

2 This not onlycauses individual suffering and hardship, but also places an enormous strainon the country s economy that could be Government of namibia , in its commitment to alleviate the problems offood insecurity and malnutrition, therefore declared the period 1992-2002 asthe food and Nutrition Decade and in 1995 developed a food Security andNutrition Policy for namibia and a food Security and Nutrition Action Plan .The objective of the Policy and Action Plan is the improvement of thenutritional status of the population.

3 The National food Security and NutritionCouncil and its Technical Committee are coordinating the implementation ofthe policy through the programmes outlined in the Action Plan. One of theprojects is the development of nutritional Guidelines for by the fact that there were no Guidelines based on the Namibiansituation, and that ministries and organisations involved in Nutrition educationwere using Guidelines developed in various different countries, the NamibianHome Economics Advisory Board initiated the development of NamibianFood and Nutrition working group composed of experts from several ministries and institutionsinvolved in food .

4 Nutrition and health was formed and endowed with the taskof analysing the data available for namibia and to develop Guidelines to forma solid basis for Nutrition education work in our is our honour and pleasure to herewith present the result of the work of theworking group, the food and Nutrition Guidelines for namibia . We sincerelyhope that these will be widely distributed and extensively utilised. It isparticularly in conjunction with a range of different educational programmesand materials that will now be developed on the basis of the food andNutrition Guidelines , that the messages contained can reach all communitiesand contribute to the improvement of the nutritional situation in , 2000Dr K.

5 ShangulaCHAIRMANN ational food Security and Nutrition CouncilAcknowledgementsThe food and Nutrition Guidelines for namibia have been developed by amulti-disciplinary working group with valuable comments and contributionsfrom many experts in food , Nutrition and health throughout namibia . Themembers of the working group were:Mr M. Menjengua and Ms L. ShinaveneMinistry of Agriculture , Water and Rural DevelopmentMS E. RourkeMinistry of Basic Education and CultureMS J. N. Amadhila, MSP.

6 Kaambo and Ms M. G. van WykMinistry of Health and Social ServicesDr , MS Keyterand of NamibiaMS L. von Krosigk (consultant), MS M. L wik (project coordinator) and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Dr Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF)Dr J. JacobiWorld Health Organization (WHO)The development of the food and Nutrition Guidelines for namibia has beenmade possible through financial support from the Ministry of Health andSocial Services, the Ministry of Agriculture , Water and Rural Development,the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

7 The UnitedNations Children s Fund and the World Health FAO Country Office in namibia and the food and Nutrition Division ofFAO Headquarters are thanked for their administrative support and technicalassistance provided throughout the project. Particular thanks go to allnurses, teachers and agricultural extension officers for their constructivecomments and invaluable input during the pre-testing of the essential role of Nutrition in the promotion and enhancement of theoverall quality and span of life is widely and well recognised.

8 However, manyNamibians suffer from nutritional disorders that are due to an inadequate foodintake, both in terms of quality and quantity. These Nutrition problems arerelated todiets1, which are monotonous, deficient in food energy and containfew foods that are rich in vitamins and the other hand, there is a considerably large group of Namibians which,because of an excessive and imbalanced food intake, suffers from obesityand related chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and coronaryheart.

9 Nutritional deficiencies in an individual are not always due topoverty and a lack of foods necessary to maintain health. Many culturalpractices, eating habits, sanitation and hygienic practices result in the neglectof the most vulnerable members of a family, for instance infants, children,pregnant and lactating women and the elderly, or they affect the quality of foodwhich is consumed. In these situations there is an urgent need to create anawareness of nutritional needs, the different functions of the variouscategories of foods, the proper combination of foods and their appropriatepreparation and use.

10 This awareness can be created by Nutrition educationand Guidelines provided in this booklet can play an important role in this should be used by professionals in Nutrition education countrywide todesign educational materials and programmes that contain correct,appropriate and consistent information. In this way, the impact of nutritioneducation and communication can be more widely are food and Nutrition Guidelines ?The food and Nutrition Guidelines contained here are statements of adviceto the general population about healthy food choices.