National Nutrition Week 2019: History and objective

The Food and Nutrition Board, including state departments of women and child development, health and NGOs all come together to spearhead activities that promote nutrition during this week. ©shutterstock

Nutrition is the science of consuming and using different beneficial foods. A balanced diet is very important for good health and well-being. Every year, September 1 heralds the start of the National Nutrition Week. The aim of this week is to educate people about the importance of diet and nutrition in their life. Various organisations come forward to share diet tips for health and well-being. This week is all about creating awareness on nutrition. Good Nutrition is essential for a healthy and fit life. A poor diet reduces overall well-being. Good nutrition will help you maintain a healthy body weight, it will strengthen the immune system and it will also provide you with energy.

The present Indian government takes health and fitness quite seriously. Hence, nutrition too gets its due in this scenario. On the eve of National Nutrition Week 2019, the Ministry of Health under the Government of India has started spreading awareness on nutrition and its health benefits through several social and print media campaigns.

History of National Nutrition Week 2019

The central government of India started this initiative in 1982. The aim was to encourage good health and healthy living through proper nutrition education since malnutrition is the main hurdle in National Development. The Food and Nutrition Board, including state departments of women and child development, health and NGOs all come together to spearhead activities that promote nutrition during this week. Mass nutrition awareness campaigns are run by the governmental and non-governmental health organizations.

Various nutritional education and training programmes are held throughout the week. There is free distribution of nutrition-related educational and training materials. Training camps are organised where people are trained preserve fruits, vegetables and other foods at home. Food analysis and standardisation training is also imparted at various training camps across the country.

Objective of National Nutrition Week 2019

National Nutrition Week is dedicated to spreading nutritional awareness among people. Many state governments, private companies and Social organisations organise training camps, educational meets, seminars, competitions, exhibitions, road shows and various other campaigns to further the idea of a healthy nation.

The main objectives of the National Nutrition Week are to review the frequency of problems related to various diet and nutrition in different communities, to evaluate the appropriate techniques to prevent and control nutritional problems through research, to monitor the condition of the country in relation to diet and nutrition, to perform operational research for planning and implementation of national nutrition programmes and make people aware through orientation training on health and nutrition.

The National Nutrition Week campaign also has a Nutrition Week Kit. This is filled with all the resources needed to help a family prepare healthy food. The campaign includes the World Food Day and also added the Nude Food Day since 2010.

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