Introduction:

Poshan or nutrition is the study of how the body uses all the essential nutrients in food to fuel and nourish itself. Your nutrition, or poshan, starts right from the day you are born. It lasts till you leave the world. Your development is as per your poshan. So, it is vital for you. Your body is a temple. You need to take care of it with good nutrition. This is extremely important. Here, good nutrition is feeding your body with all vitals. In India, every week of September has some themes as national nutrition week. It is a new approach to holistic nutrition.

Benefits of Poshan or Nutrition:

You need to understand the importance of nutrition in your daily life. Here, you can find the many perks of it.

National Nutrition Week 2024

(a) Weight Management:

Don’t fall for the traps of fad diets. They may look very promising. But they are not. It may make things worse for you. They do not give vitals to the body.

For best results, you need to eat a proper diet. It should have lots of lean proteins. They are the building blocks of muscles in the body. Your diet should have good carbs. They give you energy. Your diet should have all other vitals. This will help you lose fat in a very healthy way.

The first step towards a healthy weight is to understand the concept. You must know the importance of nutrition in food. If needed, you should change your food habits. Swap junk foods with healthy foods. They will benefit you in many ways.

(b) Protection from lifestyle and chronic diseases:

Bad lifestyle can birth many chronic issues in your body. It won’t take much time for them to take a fatal turn. These are caused by improper nutrition. Treating such conditions is conservative. Thus, you need to prevent them. You can do so with a nutrient-dense diet plan. It will deal with it on the onset. Your diet matters a lot. It will also reduce the development of other conditions or symptoms from such lifestyle diseases. Again, a nutrient-dense diet strengthens the immune system to protect your body from various diseases.

(c) Delaying the aging process:

You must have heard that the ancestors lived longer. They were more energetic than the current generation. It is because they knew the importance of nutrition. They always ate healthy whole foods. You can also achieve high levels of energy. With this, you can deal with fine aging. With a good diet, don’t worry about grey hair. No more weak joints or bones.

What is Rashtriya Poshan Maah?

Rashtriya Poshan Maah is the national nutrition month. It is a flagship program. The scheme is under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. In a collab with NITI Aayog and other stakeholders and ministries. They fall under the Poshan Abhiyan. It helps you understand all about a healthy diet. You can learn all about holistic nutrition.

This will help the nutritional status of the Indian population. In India, approx. 62.7 % of children and adolescents don’t have their vitals right. It is mostly due to poverty. Somewhere, illiteracy also plays a role. It results in:

• Stunting
• Anaemia
• pellagra
• rickets, etc.

To note that all of these are related to malnutrition.

It is a Jan Andolan. This term means a People Movement. It has the active participation of everyone. This creates a Jan Bhagidari. Everyone talks about the issues of malnutrition. It leads to educating everyone about the need of proper nutrition. Along with this, the many diseases related to malnutrition. Especially among children, female teens, pregnant and lactating women. The national nutrition week is observed in the first week of September, from 1 to Sep 7, along the lines of Rashtriya Poshan Maah.

What is Poshan Abhiyan?

Poshan Abhiyan is the National Nutritional Program. This scheme is of the year 2018. The govt of India has put in a lot of efforts to it. It aims to deal with malnutrition in India. The National Nutrition Week in this scheme is one of a kind. It finds its genesis in the year 2017. Here, a roadmap was designed by the NITI AAYOG. It threw light on the key issues for the problem of malnutrition. Mostly, among women and children. The National Council on Nutrition plays a big role in this. It makes proper guidelines and issues Orders. Such that India will be free of malnutrition in a few years.

Key Objectives of Poshan Abhiyan

Curbing Stunting:

Stunting is a common in children. Their height fails to grow with age. It occurs when a child is malnourished. The Poshan Abhiyan has the National Nutrition week. It aims to lower the rate from 38.4% to 25%. All this by working at the ground level. The scheme is to have Anganwadi services in the villages.

Tackle anaemia:

This condition is among:

• children
• pregnant women
• adolescent girls

Anaemia is low haemoglobin levels or red blood cell counts in the blood. It gives rise to many symptoms. Iron deficiency is one of the main causes of anaemia out of all other possible causes. The Poshan Abhiyan aims to decrease anaemia due to nutritional deficiency by 3% yearly.

 The Benefits of Poshan Abhiyan:

• The implementation of Nutrition Mission or Poshan Abhiyan will be implemented in a phased manner. All the States and Union Territories will actively participate in covering more than 11 crore people in India.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development will launch an atlas to locate the food grains throughout the country and aid the scheme to promote the cropping of nutritious- dense food in local areas.

What is a Balanced Diet?

A balanced diet is a simple diet. It is a blend of all food groups. Such that your body can get all the vitals. It will give you a fit body with a healthy weight. Your brain function also gets better. The balanced diet has all the nutrients in them.

The food groups are in a proportional way in such a diet. It is good for the entire body. The daily need is 2500 calories. However, the number of calories varies factors like:

• age
• sex
• lifestyle
• underlying illness

What is a Healthy Diet?

A healthy diet is like a rainbow. It has all the colours. For this, you can eat:

Fruits and Veggies:

Fruits and  veggies are vital. They make a large part of the diet. You should choose fresh ones as snacks. There are many ways that you can eat them. You can go for seasonal fruits. They are easily available in the market. 

Grains:

A portion of your meals should have grains. Whole grains are the best ones. They have a lot of vitals. So, you can eat:

• wheat
• ragi
• bajra
• jowar 

Protein-Rich Food:

Another half of your meal should have protein. It can be from veg or non veg foods. You can eat protein in all three major meals. This will help you get muscle mass and lose bad fat.

Healthy Fats:

You should eat good fats. They are good for the heart. Healthy fats are from:

• olive oil
• sunflower oil
• rice bran oil
• Avocado
• desi ghee

Spices:

You can stick to herbs and  spices. They will add aroma to your meals. Also, they will help you have a healthy weight. They have many perks. So, you can eat:

• turmeric
• cuminn
• chilli powder
• thyme
• basil

What is Healthy Eating?

We should adapt to the habit of healthy eating. All our elders always said this. Eating food in a proper way and at the proper time is crucial. This is called healthy eating. With a balanced diet, you should have a few habits. They will help you With healthy eating.

A) Proper fluid intake:

You should make sure about this. You must drink a lot of water. With this, you can have healthy drinks. They can be a part of your balanced diet. Do not drink sodas or other bad drinks. They will have bad effects on your health.

B) Include Salads:

You can eat raw foods in the form of salads. Make it once a day. Raw fruits and vegetables are more nutrient dense. Cooking drains some of thier nutrients. However, the best time to eat salads is during the day. It is so because the digestive system is at its peak.

C) Include Probiotics:

Probiotic foods have good bacteria. They are good for your gut. So, you must eat some of such foods. Add them in your balanced diet.

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