In most developing countries most 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 defence against disease. This training 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

This course 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
• Micronutrients
• A balanced diet

Nutrition Requirements throughout the Lifecycle

• Introduction to the life cycle
• Lifecycle stages
  • Cohort 1 Pregnancy and newborn (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 and 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

Training Approach

This course is delivered by our seasoned trainers who have vast experience as expert professionals in the respective fields of practice. The course is taught through a mix of practical activities, theory, group works and case studies. Training manuals and additional reference materials are provided to the participants.

Field work is included in this training.

Certification

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be issued with a certificate.

Tailor-Made Course

We can also do this as tailor-made course to meet organization-wide needs.