Training on Community Health and Nutrition
In most developing countries the majority of the population-the rural population especially-does not receive even the most basic health care or any nutritional advice. Malnutrition usually stems from poverty and from ignorance of what are the right foods to eat. At the same time it increases the problems caused by the lack of health care because it weakens the body’s defense against disease.
Training on community health and nutrition is aimed at building the skills of the participants to efficiently offer nutrition services to communities, linking them to care and referral. This is expected to empower communities to make informed choices to ensure healthy eating and lifestyles.
Target Participants
Training on community health and nutrition is aimed at health managers, community health workers, community health volunteers, nutritionists, development practitioners and other health professionals who are responsible for enhancing community health.
What you will learn
By the end of this course the participants will be able to:
- Describe the relationship between nutrition, health and development
- Understand the classification of food into different food groups
- Understand household food security
- Describe the different nutritional requirements for each lifecycle stage
- Know to conduct growth monitoring.
- Understand the different types of malnutrition
- Carry out community nutrition counselling
- Carry out nutrition assessment
Course Duration
Online 14 Days
Classroom-based 10 Days
Course Outline
Food Diet and Nutrition
- Food, nutrition and nutrients
- Different nutrients for different foodstuffs
- Balanced diet and child feeding
- Food and nutrition security
- Nutrition, Health and Development
Nutrients and their sources
- Classification of essential nutrients
- Main nutrients
- Micro nutrients
- A balanced diet
Nutrition Requirements throughout the Life-Cycle
- Introduction to the life-cycle
- Lifecycle stages
- Cohort 1 Pregnancy and new born (up to 28 days)
- Cohort 2 Early childhood (29 days -59 months)
- Cohort 3 Children and Youth (5 -19 years)
- Cohort 4 Adults (20 -59 years)
- Cohort 5 Elderly (over 60 years)
Infant and Young Child Feeding
- Global and national recommendations for child feeding during the first 24 months
- Benefits of breastfeeding for the baby
- Benefits of breastfeeding for the mother
- Benefits of breastfeeding for the family
- Benefits of breastfeeding for the community
- Key messages for optimal complementary feeding practices
Food Safety, Storage & Preservation
- The concept of food safety and hygiene
- Food storage and preservation
- Food poisoning
Nutrition Assessment Methods
- Anthropometry
- Biochemical/biophysical methods
- Clinical methods
- Dietary methods
Common Community Nutrition Problems
- Types of malnutrition
- Common forms of malnutrition
- Classification of malnutrition
- Consequences of malnutrition in community
- Strategies to promote proper nutrition in community
Micronutrients Deficiency
- The importance of micronutrients
- Micronutrients deficiencies
- Causes of micronutrient deficiency
- Strategies to control for micronutrients deficiency
Household Food Security
- Core concepts of food security
- Chronic and acute food insecurity
- Causes of household food insecurity
- Indicators of household food insecurity
- Food security strategies
- Nutrition emergency interventions
Nutrition Education and Counselling
- Behaviour change communication
- Stages of behaviour change
- Nutrition behaviour change communication
- Growth monitoring and promotion
