Nutrition: A Crucial Factor in Good Health and Why People Fail in It - Essay Sample

Introduction

Nutrition is one of the most integral determinants of good health (Adams, Kohlmeier, Powell, & Zeisel, 2010). People must be educated on proper diet to enhance good health. However, people tend to fail in their nutrition by consuming foods and other substances that may have an effect on their health. Other times, the lack of proper nutrition is a reason for the improper diet. Malnutrition among children becomes another problem that affects most children, especially in the rural setups where they suffer due to lack of knowledge by their parents, poor background of their families (Adams, et al. 2010). To meet the need for proper nutritional education, church leaders and teachers would form an integral team to work with to achieve and reach as many parents as possible.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The roads in the rural areas are not conducive, and therefore, better means of transport to those areas remain vital. In this case, the right vehicle will be used for transporting materials as well as the team that will train the community members on essential nutrition, how to prepare as well as the importance of proper nutrition. Water in the rural area of choice is not a problem as several rivers flow, which can provide adequate water for farming, which will assist in growing crops. Irrigation will enhance better nutrition as the farmers will grow vegetables and fruits, which are essential in diet upon receiving education and training on proper farming methods (Adams, et al. 2010). Another asset at the disposal is the source of the labor force to assist in better crop farming that will assist in bettering their nutrition. The availability of people, such as pastors and teachers, is also an asset that will help in the program.

The goals to achieve include the provision of adequate education about nutrition, stating the advantages as well as the sources of essential foods for nourishment (Adams, et al. 2010). Provision of health services and other supplements that may assist in correcting some of the malnutrition issues among the members of the community will be provided. The other goal is to provide measures and techniques of ensuring the community members get stable sources of safe foods by encouraging them to practice farming using the water from the rivers to ensure a steady supply of the meals.

The program is to assist in solving the problem of malnutrition as well as changing their perception of nutrition. The understanding of nutrition in the rural areas is about eating to get full but not reaping the nutritional benefits of the nutrients they get from food (Adams, et al. 2010). This is evidenced by the cases of malnutrition among the children and other adults. Provision of supplementations such as multivitamins and formula milk, will go a long way in providing the essential nutrients for the growing children. Additionally, teaching community members on the importance of proper nutrition will change their perception of diet. And for the long term, educating them on natural ways of farming to aid in producing nutritious crops such as vegetables and fruits will go a long way in settling the problem of poor nutrition (Adams, et al. 2010).

On matters about the health of the community members, teaching the community about proper nutrition remains paramount (Reid, Green, Cooper, Hastings, Lock, & White, 2010). Adequate sanitation and a clean environment are also a way of ensuring the community stays healthy. However, before implementing the program of providing proper nutrition as well as environmental sanitation, several issues need to be considered. Such problems include the availability of resources to ensure the community members can afford good food for better nutrition, availability of sanitation facilities in the community as well as the availability of water for irrigation. After considering those issues, the health program on food can be rolled out comfortably.

Rural programs on health may do well following education and health message giving to the members. People tend to value their health, but the problem is that they lack the necessary information. Evaluation of the nutritional program in this rural area will be done by asking, observing, and noting the cases of malnutrition that will be reported in the health facilities available. The evaluation will be done after the provision of the supplements and educating the community on the importance of proper nutrition. Assessment will be done by visiting the village and listening to the community on the perception of diet after teaching them (Reid, et al. 2010)

Sustainability is crucial for any program. This involves coming up with measures that will ensure that the program remains relevant and useful to the community after some time since its rolling out. For proper nutrition, it needs to be a long term program as the community will need a diet for as long as they live. Therefore, the program has to be sustainable by ensuring a steady production of nutritious foods that are safe and well grown by the community members. To achieve this, teaching the community about increasing these foods under irrigation may play a vital role as it will ensure steady production in all seasons. Additionally, the program of supplementation among children of various ages is critical. It can remain in existence for as long as the community lives to assist in the prevention of malnutrition.

Disseminating best practices in a rural program is critical and helpful to the issue of health and nutrition (Stead, 2012). Building good relationships with the partners goes a long way in ensuring that the program succeeds. Additionally, sourcing for well-wishers to aid in funding the program is a good practice as it provides that the program is sustainable. These practices ensure an increment in the success and visibility of the intended results. There are several ways of disseminating best practices in rural programs. Such techniques include presenting the findings they obtain to different organizations as well as to various well-wishers and sharing the material those they already have in place (Stead, 2012).

References

Adams, K. M., Kohlmeier, M., Powell, M., & Zeisel, S. H. (2010). Nutrition in medicine: nutrition education for medical students and residents. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 25(5), 471-480.

Reid, J. A., Green, B., Cooper, M., Hastings, W., Lock, G., & White, S. (2010). Regenerating rural social space? Teacher education for rural-Regional sustainability. Australian journal of education, 54(3), 262-276.

Stead, D. (2012). Best practices and policy transfer in spatial planning. Planning Practice and Research, 27(1), 103-116.