National Nutrition Week 2020: Eat Right, Bite By Bite
National Nutrition Week is observed every year to compel us to be aware of the importance of nutrition for the Human Body and well-being of one’s health with effective measures to overcome hunger and malnourishment. National Nutrition week usually looks forward to enhancing the balanced diet needed by a human body.
National Nutrition Week 2020
National Nutrition Week is celebrated each year from 1st September to 7th September. National Nutrition Week is conducted to increase the awareness of proper nutrients and diets needed to be consumed by the human body. National Nutrition Week emphasizes the importance and role of the right nutrition for the human body.
National Nutrition Week (NNW) is an annual nutrition event organized by the Food and Nutrition Board by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. There are crowds of people today in India who are Malnourished and require a proper diet for their healthy body Growth. The government has conducted many of the Seminars and also Camps to deliver the proper education to every Child and Citizen of India.
History of National Nutrition Week
National Nutrition Week was instigated in March 1973 by the members of the American Dietetic Association (now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) to enhance the awareness among people about the importance and need for nutrition education. Back in those days National Nutrition Week was not popularly adopted by the population neither was given importance to such movement. But with the upcoming years, we saw changes and according to a survey, it has concluded that in 1980 the public showed great response towards it which resulted in its rise among countries globally. Finally, in 1982 the central government of India decided to establish this movement and consider it a week-long celebration of National Nutrition Week.
Importance of National Nutrition Week
In a country like India, people are least bothered about the malnourishment and the improper diet causing harm to their basic lives, to encourage such citizens the National nutrition Week is organized for an entire week. After its establishment people below the poverty line are getting basic food grains to satisfy their belly, various NGOs opened in partnership to help boost the movement. The aim of National Nutrition Week is to process the intake of food for growth, metabolism, and repair. Our body needs two types of nutrients i.e. macronutrients, and micronutrients. The campaign is apprehensive and provides us with the knowledge of proper
Diet: Planning on our diet was never our concern, but the initiative of establishing this campaign has boosted the crowd to take steps against their ill diet and maintain the state of their diet chart towards a balanced way of life.
Importance of Good Nutrients are:
- Provides us with energy to manage our lifestyle.
- Maintains our healthy body.
- Maintains the immune system.
- Delays the effect of Ageing.
- Reduces the risk of chronic diseases.
- Healthy diet increases life span.
Facts about National Nutrition Week
1. Every year the Food and Nutrition Board handpicks a theme for the national nutrition week through its 43 Community Food and Nutrition Extension Units located in all the four regions of the country.
2. The percentage of children (6-59 months) who are anemic has come down from 69.4 percent to 58.6 percent.
3. On March 8, 2018, PM Narendra Modi launched POSHAN Abhiyan from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, with the vision to make India malnutrition free by 2022.
4. According to a study it is presumed that only 21 days are enough to change your unhealthy habits and to transform you to your better version.
Ways to Observe National Nutrition Week
Stick to the Indian way of nutrition: Food of India is a festival for the senses - aromatic and appetising. The way it is assembled, the way we eat, and the way we spice it up - all done to make the body feel better. Cook and eat more of it and feel the difference in your health.
Use the spices and herbs with a little twist: Get experimental. Like, curry leaves work well in dishes outside of South Indian and Maharashtrian cuisine too. Add to bottle guard, taste it, give it a try. Some of the pairings might just surprise you.
Depend on spices: All spices have something going for them like turmeric delivers curcumin which is a brilliant anti-inflammatory, garam masala delivers the goodness of multiple spices, coriander seeds help reduce bad cholesterol, etc, - but it is important to choose the spices very carefully. For example, using turmeric with 3 per cent curcumin is very essential, similarly, always only opt for powdered spices that have their natural oils intact are the only ones you must put in your masala dani as all the goodness lies in their oils.
Be Vocal for Local: Buy locally grown produce as far as possible as they just don’t suit our bodies better but are also fresh as they are grown closer home. The sooner you eat a fruit or vegetable after it’s picked, the better it is nutritionally for you. Tastes better too. Also, remember that the vegetables that ripen fully on the plant will have more nutrients than those that are picked early and left to ripen in storages.
Eat more lentils: Include them in your everyday diet more consciously. They are delicious and are a great source of protein (particularly for vegetarians) and packed with a lot of other essential nutrients and antioxidants. So enjoy them to the fullest, cook them in the way you want, but make sure you pick up the unpolished dals. Also, pick a brand that is trusted, so you can be assured of the quality and better nutrition. That way, you will be able to get their benefits fully.
Follow seasonal eating: The seasonal rule of eating is the bedrock of Ayurveda and is a time-proven one to deliver health and prevent disease. For example, some vegetables like cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, bottle gourd, spinach are considered cooling as they help to lower the body temperature. Eat more of these in summers. And some foods, such as raw garlic cloves with allicin, which are known to improve circulation and warm the body.
Mindful eating: Take time to chew and enjoy your vegetables. The age-old rule says chew each bite 20 times but if that’s too hard for you to fathom (forget practice) then do your best. Remember the more you chew, the more vegetables you will break down, resulting in better absorption of nutrients in the gut.
Nutrition is the science or practice of consuming and utilising foods. Food provides our body with energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins, and minerals to live, grow, and function properly. Therefore, a balanced diet is important for good health and well-being. It is said that an unhealthy diet increases the risk of many diet-related diseases.
