Nutritional counselling can help prevent malnutrition and improve nutrition through following strategies:
- Nutritional planning: formulation of a nutrition policy and overall long term planning to improve production and supplies of food, ensure its equitable distribution and programs to increase the purchasing power of people.
- Direct nutrition and health interventions: Infections like malaria, measles and diarrhea are prevalent in our society and they precipitate acute malnutrition among children and infants. A good health care system that provides immunization, oral rehydration, periodic de-worming, early diagnosis and proper treatment of common illnesses can go a long way in preventing malnutrition in the society.
- Nutrition education: nutritional quality of various locally available and culturally accepted low cost foods.
- Exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continuing to breast feed up to two years or beyond.
- Importance of including milk, eggs, meat or pulses in sufficient quantities in the diet to enhance the net dietary protein value.
- Early detection of malnutrition and intervention.
- Nutrition supplementation: Calories, proteins and micronutrients like iron, vitamin A and zinc can be supplemented.
UPSC CSE Notes 