‘Make nutrition campaign interesting to youths’
Promoting nutrition education among youths through innovative campaign is essential to fight malnutrition problem of young generation, experts told a roundtable on Wednesday.
Prothom Alo in association with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of United Nations organised the roundtable titled ‘Nutritious World: Young Generation’s Engagement’ at CA Bhaban in the city’s Karwan Bazar area.
Nutrition experts also observed that most of the people of the country lack nutrition literacy which hinders their growth and wellbeing.
Most of the youths take junk food and skip breakfast endangering their physical condition, discussants said.
Food ministry’s planning and monitoring unit (FPMU) director general M Badrul Arefin said that innovative campaigns such as printing nutrition related advertisement in the cover of text book can be helpful to spread awareness on nutrition.
He also said that the government is working to ensure good governance in the nutrition sector.
Director general of Bangladesh National Nutrition Council (BNNC) Shah Newaz urged youths to maintain a balanced lifestyle.
FAO’s governance policy advisor Naser Farid urged the stakeholders to ensure an environment where youth can develop nutrition entrepreneurship.
Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development’s (BIID) chief executive officer (CEO) Shahid Uddin Akbar said the idea of Nutrition Clubs in educational institutions has contributed to build awareness and disseminate knowledge on nutrition among the students.
He said Nutrition Clubs should be set up in more educational institutions of remote areas.
Senior nutritionist of Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge (MUCH) project Lalita Bhattacharjee said, “We need to spread our nutrition messages to the adolescent in a very interesting way so that we can convince them to take more nutritious food instead of junk food.”
Member of Bangladesh Agricultural University’s Nutrition Club Ruhul Amin, general secretary of College of Home Economics’ Nutrition Club Zerin Tasnim, president of Maple Leaf International School Nutrition Club Misha Ahsan shared their experience of running Nutrition Clubs in their respective educational institutions.
Chief technical advisor of MUCH project Naoki Minamiguchi, technical director of Helen Keller International’s National Information Platform for Nutrition Jillian L Waid and Save the Children’s SUCHANA programme chief of party Sheikh Shahed Rahman also spoke at the roundtable moderated by Prothom Alo associate editor Abdul Quayym.