केक र कुकीले स्मरणशक्ति घटाउँछ

वैज्ञानिकहरुका अनुसार केक, कुकी, जाम तथा जेली लगायतका फास्टफूड बढि खाने मानिसको स्मरण शक्ति कमजोर बन्दै जान्छ ।

कुकी तथा केक लगायतका खाद्य पदार्थले मानिसको मस्तिष्कको काम गर्ने तरिकालाई प्रभावित पार्ने अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरुको भनाइ छ । यस्ता खाद्यपदार्थ खाने मानिसको स्मरण शक्ति कम हुँदै जान्छ । तथापि फ्याट्टी अम्ल हुने खानाहरुले भने स्मरणशक्ति तेज बन्ने बताइन्छ ।

अमेरिकाको लस एन्जल्सका वैज्ञानिकहरुले मुसामा गरेको अध्ययनले यस्तो देखाएको हो । अनुसन्धानको क्रममा कुकी, केक लगायतका फास्टफूड खुवाइएका मुसाहरु पज्जल पार गर्न असफल भएको पाइयो भने सामान्य खाना दिइएका मुसाहरुले त्यस्तो पज्जल पार गरे ।

मुसाको मस्तिष्क मानिसको सँग धेरै मेल खाने भएकाले यो सिद्धान्त मानिसमा पनि लागु हुने वैज्ञानिकहरुको भनाइ छ ।

Source: Online Khabar

School health nutrition for all

SIMONE GALIMBERTI

The quest for an inclusive and accessible education can be effectively translated into reality if along the existing initiatives like scholarship for disadvantaged groups, multi lingual education, special provisions for differently 

able children, the local schools are turned into hubs for health and hygiene promotion. 

The latter option could be seen as a true game changer in the education and health sector thanks to the School Health and Nutrition, SHN model. The concept is simple, new and “Fresh” in the sense that is based on the internationally accepted model of “Focusing Resources for Effective School Health”. Imagine if certain basic health services, like vision, hearing and height screenings are offered at school level, think if a local teacher with the support of the local child club can monitor the hygiene status of the students, considers the benefits of offering simple oral health services to all students.All these could be done through periodic checkups, awareness making activities and involvement of the communities. We are not talking about schools replacing local health posts but rather extending the services of national health system through local schools.

The good thing is that this scenario is not a far dream but it is actually a reality in Nepal. Still we are very far from extending and scaling it up to all the student population of the country. Indeed the “National Strategy on SHN” approved by the Government in 2006 is facing a midlife crisis: no more in its initial stage, it has not been incorporated neither mainstreamed into the national education system yet. 

Unfortunately the School Sector Reform Plan does not even mention SHN but it was heartening to know that the Department of Education very recently requested the Ministry of Education to formally include SHN in the School Sector Reform Plan. 

Now we have a huge opportunity offered by the “Multisectoral Nutrition Plan” recently finalized by the National Planning Commission. This ambitious plan brings on the same board different stakeholders engaged in the nutrition sector and, if fully applied end mainstreamed, offers a fantastic platform for fighting malnutrition at all the levels.

It is still to be seen how SHN that offers interventions also beyond the nutritional sector can be fully incorporated and mainstreamed in this plan but the evidence is strong for suggesting flexibility in finding venues for incorporating the School Health and Nutrition Strategy into Multisectoral Nutrition Plan.

Water and sanitation components are vital too. Without adequate WASH infrastructures and conducive habits, the concept of child friendly school will remain unrealized, hampering the efforts of the Government and donor communities in improving the quality of learning at school level. In few words, SHN is a soft approach but so holistic, integrated and comprehensive that the health indicators of the nation can be improved because of it.

Malnutrition can be reduced, infections can be prevented, and hygiene can be drastically enhanced because of sustainable and doable SHN approach.

It is sustainable because it integrates already existing services being provided by the Ministry of Health and Population with the overall efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide inclusive and quality education for all. It is doable because the schools and local communities can be put in charge of the program and do the work. Technical health personnel can play an important role, but we should not forget how much the communities can do with a little guidance and help.

What they simply need is some technical knowledge that can be easily transferred through accessible trainings and a bit of more cooperation between education and health authorities at local level.On positive note, a “Minimum Package of Interventions on SHN” has been developed by the National Network on School Health and Nutrition. The Minimum Package goes side by side with the “National Joint Action Plan on SHN” that offers a fantastic opportunity to scale up in gradual and sustainable manner the program at national level. This plan, although incomplete as it does not properly address the early childhood development for example, needs to be fully disseminated and better mainstreamed. 

Interestingly, the Plan foresees the establishment of a new section within the Department of Education for SHN and WASH related matter. This new institutional set up will facilitate the implementation of health and hygiene related activities while ensuring better technical cooperation from the Ministry of Health and Population.

Coordination is the most indispensible element for successful implementation of SHN. Both Ministries of Education and Health and Population have fruitful cooperation at central level. Many of the SHN activities are already being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Population like distribution of de-worming tablets, iron folic supplementation tablets, first aid kits. Encouragingly mid day meals are distributed in 35 districts. The final goal would be to have health posts establishing a working relationship with the local schools for effective implementation of SHN activities.Let’s empower and equip our schools to become agents of change also in the promotion of health and hygiene. It is value for money and it makes sense.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Climate Conversations - Malnutrition increases on the horizon in south Asia

A woman pulls a goat as she wades out of the flood waters in the Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province on September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

By Saleem Shaikh and Sughra Tunio

Malnutrition is worsening in developing countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India because of the impacts of climate change - particularly on water resources, a key input for producing food for more than a billion people in the region.

Climate change and rising temperatures have now badly disturbed food production patterns and have deepened food insecurity.  Malnutrition is particularly increasing in the countries where large populations are dependent on rain-fed subsistence farming.

Climate change, growing use of food crops as a source of fuel and soaring food prices are three major challenges that threaten efforts to overcome food insecurity and malnutrition according to ‘Impact of Climate Change and Bioenergy on Nutrition’ a joint report by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

According to the report, food security has four dimensions: food availability, access to food, stability of supply and access, and the safety and health of food.

Besides climate change and rising demand for bioenergy, other factors can hamper efforts to reduce malnutrition, including widespread land degradation and scarcity of fresh water resources, and structural shifts in the food and agricultural systems.

CUT CLIMATE CHANGE TO CUT HUNGER

That means some not-very-obvious ways of cutting malnutrition could have a big effect. That’s things like cutting emissions of greenhouse gases through improved transport, adopting better food producing techniques and making the choice to use greener energy.

Global population is expected to gallop up by 37 percent by 2050, to 9.2 billion. Global economic and food experts at the World Bank and FAO predict that economic growth of 6 percent per year in developing countries during the next few years, combined with rapid urbanization, will drive demand for food to new heights just as food production contracts.

They warn of substantial risks to food production from the spread of plant pests, animal diseases and invasive species across international borders – something climate change could worsen.

Subsistence farmers in developing countries, dependent on agriculture, will be particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Other groups similarly at risk of worsening food security include pastoralists, indigenous people, coastal communities and artisanal fishermen.

Changing weather patterns linked to climate change will cause more intense and longer droughts, and the frequency of heavy precipitation events is increasing over most of the world’s land areas. There is likelihood that heat waves and future tropical cyclones will become more intense.

Droughts and water scarcity can reduce the diversity of diets and bring down overall food consumption, worsening malnutrition. Flooding, sea level rise and worsening storm surges could expose more people to diarrhoea and other diseases, lowering their capacity to use food efficiently.

Adapting to the coming pressures will be crucial. Adaptation actions could include extension or intensification of existing risk management or simply efforts to produce more food.

Just as important will be making infrastructure climate change-resilient and building capacity to adapt broadly into communities and institutions.

Source: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/climate-conversations/malnutrition-increases-on-the-horizon-in-south-asia