PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 12:43 PM by Tevita

Teaching good eating habits to reduce malnutrition and diet-related diseases
FAO publishes planning guide for nutrition education in primary schools

http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0333e/a0333e00.htm

From : FAO Newsroom

9 October 2007, Rome - Educating school children in healthy nutrition is one of the most effective strategies for overcoming malnutrition and chronic diet-related diseases but has been neglected far too long, FAO said today. The UN agency announced the publication of a new comprehensive guide for curriculum development addressing nutrition education in primary schools. “What many people don’t realize is that it is not only the amount of food, but the quality of a diet that has a critical effect on children’s growth, health and learning capacity. Eating is not just a biological process, it depends on learned habits and perceptions, on the cultural and social environment. This is why nutrition education is so important,” said Ezzeddine Boutrif, Director, FAO Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division.Good nutrition education can make children aware of how to achieve a nourishing diet with limited means; how to prepare and handle food safely and how to avoid food-related risks. As future parents, they will know about the benefits of breastfeeding and complementary feeding, and be able to educate their children to follow a diet that is well balanced and of good quality. “Teaching nutrition in schools can help reduce the costly impact of nutrition related diseases of future generations. Governments should make nutrition education a priority,” Boutrif added.Bad eating habits on the riseChronic diet-related diseases, such as excess weight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, are not restricted to rich countries. They are increasing around the globe as a result of new lifestyles and eating habits. Globally, 1.6 billion adults are overweight, and at least 400 million are obese. Two out of three overweight and obese people now live in low- and middle-income countries, with the vast majority in emerging markets and transition economies, according to the World Health Organization. ”Certainly, hunger and undernourishment remain a major problem for some 820 million people in developing countries that do not have the means to buy or produce sufficient good quality food,” said Peter Glasauer, FAO nutrition education expert. “But globalization and economic development have introduced new foods and altered dietary habits and lifestyle patterns in many developing countries as well. Migration from rural communities to urban areas, for example, is on the rise with less and less people producing their own food and the majority depending entirely on commercial food supply. Nutrition education in primary schools is an effective way of promoting good nutrition,” he added.The new guideThe new FAO guide for curriculum development is aimed at ministry officials, teachers, nutrition experts, health professionals and others involved in the planning of nutrition education programmes for primary schools. Although it also contains a section on the basics of healthy nutrition, the guide is not a teaching aid for nutrition education itself. It is a resource package comprising three elements: a book that explains the key ideas and processes in nutrition, health and education; a set of worksheets taking the user through the entire planning exercise; a classroom curriculum chart, providing learning objectives for nutrition education in primary schools in developing countries.The guide is available in English and French.



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This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). 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DIVA-GIS	Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Posted 12:43 PM by Tevita Teaching good eating habits to reduce malnutrition and diet-related diseases FAO publishes planning guide for nutrition education in primary schools http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0333e/a0333e00.htm From : FAO Newsroom 9 October 2007, Rome - Educating school children in healthy nutrition is one of the most effective strategies for overcoming malnutrition and chronic diet-related diseases but has been neglected far too long, FAO said today. The UN agency announced the publication of a new comprehensive guide for curriculum development addressing nutrition education in primary schools. “What many people don’t realize is that it is not only the amount of food, but the quality of a diet that has a critical effect on children’s growth, health and learning capacity. Eating is not just a biological process, it depends on learned habits and perceptions, on the cultural and social environment. This is why nutrition education is so important,” said Ezzeddine Boutrif, Director, FAO Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division.Good nutrition education can make children aware of how to achieve a nourishing diet with limited means; how to prepare and handle food safely and how to avoid food-related risks. As future parents, they will know about the benefits of breastfeeding and complementary feeding, and be able to educate their children to follow a diet that is well balanced and of good quality. “Teaching nutrition in schools can help reduce the costly impact of nutrition related diseases of future generations. Governments should make nutrition education a priority,” Boutrif added.Bad eating habits on the riseChronic diet-related diseases, such as excess weight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, are not restricted to rich countries. They are increasing around the globe as a result of new lifestyles and eating habits. Globally, 1.6 billion adults are overweight, and at least 400 million are obese. Two out of three overweight and obese people now live in low- and middle-income countries, with the vast majority in emerging markets and transition economies, according to the World Health Organization. ”Certainly, hunger and undernourishment remain a major problem for some 820 million people in developing countries that do not have the means to buy or produce sufficient good quality food,” said Peter Glasauer, FAO nutrition education expert. “But globalization and economic development have introduced new foods and altered dietary habits and lifestyle patterns in many developing countries as well. Migration from rural communities to urban areas, for example, is on the rise with less and less people producing their own food and the majority depending entirely on commercial food supply. Nutrition education in primary schools is an effective way of promoting good nutrition,” he added.The new guideThe new FAO guide for curriculum development is aimed at ministry officials, teachers, nutrition experts, health professionals and others involved in the planning of nutrition education programmes for primary schools. Although it also contains a section on the basics of healthy nutrition, the guide is not a teaching aid for nutrition education itself. It is a resource package comprising three elements: a book that explains the key ideas and processes in nutrition, health and education; a set of worksheets taking the user through the entire planning exercise; a classroom curriculum chart, providing learning objectives for nutrition education in primary schools in developing countries.The guide is available in English and French. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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