Tag: Nutrition

पोषण स्तरोन्नति गर्ने दृढ सोचका साथ ‘सोचाई-पोषणका लागी युवा’

January 20, 2019

पोषण तथा यस सम्बन्धि जानकारीको अभावले हाम्रो गाँउ–समाजमा गम्भिर समस्याहरु निम्त्याएको महसुस गरेपछि, जनस्वास्थ्य, फार्मेसी, समाजसेवा र मिडिया जस्ता विविध पृष्ठभूमिका ४ युवा विद्यार्थीहरू, बोनिता शर्मा, नेहा मल्ल, मन्जिता राजोपाध्याय र आशुतोष कार्कीमा नेपालीहरूको स्वास्थ्य र पोषण स्तरोन्नति गर्ने दृढ सोचका साथ “सोचाई – पोषणका लागी युवा”, एक सामाजिक अभियानको सुरुवात भयो ।

विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठनका अनुसार बच्चालाई जन्मेदेखि ६ महिनासम्म आमाको दुधमात्रै खुवाउनु पर्दछ । तर लुभुमा एउटी आमाले यो कुरा नजान्दा आफ्नो दुई महिनाको दुधे बालकलाई काजु घोटेर खुवाइन् । काजुको सानो टुक्रो शिशुको घाटीमा अड्केर अकालमै मृत्यु भएको दुखद् घटनाका बारेमा थाहपाएपछि यस्तो अवस्था फेरी आउन नदिन सोचाइका चार  संस्थापक सदस्यहरुलाई पोषणको क्षेत्रमा डटेर लाग्न प्रेरणा मिल्यो ।

हामी सबैलाई थाहा छ कि रोगको उपचार गर्नु भन्दा रोग लाग्न नदिनुनै बुद्धिमानी हो । यहि मन्त्रलाई आत्मसाथ गर्दै पोषण र स्वास्थ्य सुधारको निम्ति नविनतम सिर्जना, शिक्षा, जनचेतना र पैरविमा केन्द्रित रही सोचाइ समूहले आफ्ना कार्यहरुको थालनी गर्यो ।

सुरुमा यो युवा समूहले के गर्यो त ? – नविनतम सिर्जना

सधैँ समस्याबारे मात्र कति छलफल गर्नु भनेर समाधानको धार प्रति लम्किदै यी युवाहरुले सुरुमा पोषण सिकाउने माला (न्युट्रिबिड्स ब्रेस्लेट) को निर्माण गरे । यस पोषण मालाको निर्माण समुदायका सयौं गर्भवती सुत्केरी आमाहरुसंग पटकपटकको छलफल पश्चात गरिएको हो ।

आमा गर्भवती भएको नौ महिना र बच्चा जन्मेको पहिलो २ वर्ष जोड्दा १००० दिन हुने गर्दछ । बालबालिकाको सुरुवाती जीवनको यो १००० दिन बच्चाको स्वास्थ्य र पोषणको मजबुत जग हाल्ने सुनौलो मौका हो । त्यसैले यी सुनौला १००० दिनमा बच्चालाई कस्तो, कति र कसरी पोषिलो खाना खुवाउने भन्ने जानकारी यो पोषण मालाले दिन्छ ।

 

-हाम्रो कथाको वेभसाइट बाट साभार गरिएको । पुरा पढ्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोस ।

Read Full article here: SOCHAI Youth For Nutrition: A movement for health and nutrition 

Out now! SOCHAI Youth for Nutrition ANNUAL REPORT 2017/2074

April 29, 2018

“We are immensely happy to reflect on the first year of SOCHAI – Youth for Nutrition through the Annual Report 2017. From a simple doodle of a ‘Nutribeads bracelet’ on a paper, to a tangible solution for nutrition education and women empowerment, we came long way! In this year long journey, we worked with golden 1000 days mothers, adolescent girls, youth, students, health workers and community groups. We collaborated with different national and international organizations to create greater health and socio-economic impact.

We are thankful to all our mentors, partners, supporters and most importantly the volunteers who are truly the social changemakers and innovators. We hope to continue working together with the passion and determination to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality.”

Click on the link below to access the report.

SOCHAI Annual Report 2017

SOC

 

 

Nutribeads for Making Nutrition Better!

January 14, 2018
PC: Ekantipur (Note: This is not a recent data)
PC: Ekantipur (This is not a recent data)

High prevalence of malnutrition is one of the major public health problems in Nepal. It is one of the leading causes of child mortality & morbidity in the country. Thousands of children miss the opportunity to reach their full potential due to the physical and mental effects of poor nutrition in the critical window of the first 1000 days (period between pregnancy and her child’s 2nd birthday).

One of the reasons behind this is lack of awareness among the mothers about proper nutritional requirement during the golden 1000 days. Other causative factors behind this problem are improper and inadequate practice of 3Es of breastfeeding (Early initiation, Exclusive and Extended Breastfeeding), inappropriate complementary feeding practices, poverty, poor sanitation, taboos and traditional beliefs etc. Children in all rural, semi-urban & urban communities in Nepal are equally affected by malnutrition.

Wooden Nutribeads1
Nutribeads Bracelet

Realizing the silent emergency of malnutrition in Nepal, we, the Social Changemakers and Innovators (SOCHAI) – a network of youth volunteers, embark on our journey to fight this issue by raising awareness in grass-root communities. Through our Youth For Nutrition Project, we provide nutrition counseling to pregnant and lactating mothers who visit local health center to get their children vaccinated. The unique aspect of our nutrition education and counseling program is our social innovation – the “Nutribeads Bracelet”. This Nutribeads bracelet is an educational tool that is used to make mothers aware about the nutritional requirements of the children in the first two years of life. The Nutribeads bracelet contains a set of colorful beads with numbers. The numbers indicate age interval of the child, whereas each color of the beads represents the specific type of food that much be included in the child’s meal. This colorful bracelet can be worn by the mothers at all time like a beautiful accessory, so that she can remember about the nutritional need of her child at all times.

The Nutribeads bracelet is accompanied by a Nutricard which contains all the information on food type, frequency and additional health promotion messages. Our innovation Nutribeads had won the 3rd High Level Meeting (HLM3) Asia Pacific Youth Innovation Challenge in 2016 organized by the UNICEF in Malaysia. Our ‘SOCHAI – Youth for Nutrition’ project has already provided nutrition counseling to dozens of mothers using the winning social innovation – the Nutribeads bracelet. As a part of this project, we also work with the adolescent girls, school children, youth, local mother’s groups and health workers. Since addressing the issue of malnutrition requires multidimensional approach, we also involve health and hygiene promotion activities in our project.

The contentment of seeing mothers grasp and implement the nutrition information to improve the health of their children has been the most rewarding feeling in this journey. On the other hand, realization of the barriers in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition among the poor is equally heartbreaking for us. So besides awareness and education, we also aim to empower women in the community to become economically independent. By involving women from poor and marginalized communities to make the Nutribeads bracelet and selling it to those who can afford buying, are trying to foster both nutrition awareness and economic upliftment. This way, even the poor families are able to afford nutritious food to make their family happy and healthy.

We are open for collaboration with youth, stakeholders, organizations, institutions from diverse backgrounds to build healthy happy future for our children. You can also be a part of initiative by buying our Nutribeads bracelet. Please can contact us if you are also willing to be a part of our journey to combat malnutrition and poverty in Nepal.

Additional Resources:

Sochai on News: https://goo.gl/gu46ty , https://goo.gl/EvU2rC

Social Media Handles:

YouTube Links

 

 

Breastfeeding Facts

May 23, 2017

  Collected by: Kritee Lamichhane

1. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding should begin within one hour of birth283482

2. Breastfeeding should be “on demand”, as often as the child wants day and night (Usually 8-12 times in 24 hours), bottles or pacifiers should be avoided

3. A child must be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. Mother’s milk is enough for the child for the first 6 months. Water, honey or any other kinds of solid/liquid food must not be given to the child during the first 6 months.

4. At six months, solid foods, such as mashed food like rice, beans, pulses, eggs, fish, fruits and vegetables, should be introduced to complement breastfeedlp4_061102314.psding for up to two years or more.

5. Breastfeeding should not be decreased when starting on solids. The food for the child as well as the container should be clean and safe. Breastfeeding must be continued until the child reaches 2 years of age.

6. Benefits of breastfeeding on infants:

  • Breast milk is the ideal food for newborns and infants.
  • It gives infants all the nutrients they need for healthy development.screen3_img-1
  • It is safe and contains antibodies that help protect infants from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia
  • Breast milk is readily available and affordable, which helps to ensure that infants get adequate nutrition

7. Benefits of breastfeeding on mothers:

  • Exclusive breastfeeding is associated with a natural (though not fail-safe) method of birth control (98% protection in the first six months after birth).
  • It reduces risks of breast and ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postpartum depression

7. Long-term benefits for children:

  • Breastfeeding contributes to a lifetime of good health
  • Adolescents and adults who were breastfed as babies are less likely to be overweight or obese.
  • They are less likely to have type-II diabetes and perform better in intelligence tests.

8. Why avoid infant formula?

  • Infant formula does not contain the antibodies found in breast milk. images-horz
  • When infant formula is not properly prepared, there are risks arising from the use of unsafe water and unsterilized equipment or the potential presence of bacteria in powdered formula.
  • Malnutrition can result from over-diluting formula to “stretch” supplies.
  • While frequent feeding maintains breast milk supply, if formula is used but becomes unavailable, a return to breastfeeding may not be an option due to diminished breast milk production

9. HIV and breastfeeding:

  • An HIV-infected mother can pass the infection to her infant during pregnancy, delivery and through breastfeeding.
  • However, antiretroviral (ARV) drugs given to either the mother or HIV-exposed infant reduces the risk of transmission.
  • Together, breastfeeding and ARVs have the potential to significantly improve infants’ chances of surviving while remaining HIV uninfected
  • WHO recommends that when HIV-infected mothers breastfeed, they should receive ARVs and follow WHO guidance for infant feeding.

10. Regulating breast-milk substitutes (BMS Act): An international code to regulate the marketing of breast-milk substitutes was adopted in 1981. It calls for:

  • all formula labels and information to state the benefits of breastfeeding and the health risks of substitutes;
  • no promotion of breast-milk substitutes;
  • no free samples of substitutes to be given to pregnant women, mothers or their families; and
  • no distribution of free or subsidized substitutes to health workers or facilities.

11. Support for the breastfeeding mother is essential:

  • Family of breastfeeding mother must create enabling environment so that the mother can adequately breastfeed her child.e1c90d314af4275ab950a64f37a3ba8c
  • Routine practices, such as separation of mother and baby, and supplementation with infant formula, actually make it harder for mothers and babies to breastfeed.
  • Health facilities must ensure baby friendly facilities and nutritional counselling services for the new mothers to encourage higher rates of the breastfeeding practice in proper frequency and position.

12. Working women and breastfeeding:super-mom-773x675.jpg

  • Mothers need a safe, clean and private place in or near their workplace to continue breastfeeding.
  • Enabling conditions at work, such as paid maternity leave, part-time work arrangements, facilities for expressing and storing breast milk, and breastfeeding breaks is a must at work place.

Reference:

WHO Fact File: 10 Facts on breastfeeding
Accessed at http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/breastfeeding/facts/en/  on 23rd May, 2017

Images: Google