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Nutrition Month 2020

• Karen Chapman-Novakofski, PhD, RDN Karen Chapman-Novakofski Affiliations Editor-in-Chief Search for articles by this author

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2020.01.011

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Make Every Bite Count During National Nutrition Month

By Janet M. de Jesus, MS, RD, Nutrition Advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion  

National Nutrition Month, celebrated each year in March, is an opportunity to focus attention on the importance of healthy dietary habits and making every bite count. On December 29, 2020, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA)  launched the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025  to support policy makers and health professionals in helping Americans meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease.  

As we celebrate National Nutrition Month, many health professionals are looking for ways to learn more about the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines and for materials to support implementation. To jump-start your efforts, check out the resources and infographics available on DietaryGuidelines.gov to help health practitioners and consumers navigate the Dietary Guidelines.   

Top 10 Things You Need to Know  

To help orient you to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, this  resource  lists the top 10 things all health professionals should know.  

Food Sources of Select Nutrients  

Calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, and vitamin D are considered dietary components of public health concern for the general U.S. population. In addition, iron is a nutrient of public health concern for infants, particularly those receiving mostly human milk, and women of childbearing age. This  resource  lists examples of foods and beverages that are the highest sources of these dietary components. These lists can be used to educate consumers about foods and beverages that contain these nutrients. 

Consumer Resources  

To help individuals and families improve their health, USDA and HHS provide a variety of  resources  on healthy eating based on the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  

Graphics and  Infographics:  

Many of the following graphics and infographics were developed for health professionals to use in presentations. They can be used to introduce the newest version of the Dietary Guidelines. and convey the importance of good nutrition at any age and in making every bite count.  

Make Every Bite Count : This infographic highlights the four overarching guidelines and shows how people across all life stages can make choices that better align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 

Eat Healthy, Be Healthy : This infographic emphasizes that the Dietary Guidelines provides science-based advice to support everyone—no matter their age, race, socioeconomic, or health status—achieve better health by making every bite count.   

Customizing the Dietary Guidelines : This infographic provides examples of options within each food group to illustrate flexibility in creating healthy dietary patterns and how patterns can be customized to accommodate cultural foodways and budgetary considerations. 

The 4 Guidelines : This simple graphic that outlines the four pillars to a healthy dietary pattern. 

Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines over time : This graphic outlines the average total healthy eating index (HEI) scores from 2005 to 2016. Health professionals can use this graphic in presentations or handouts to illustrate healthy eating trends for the U.S. population.   

Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines across life stages : This graphic outlines the average total healthy eating index (HEI) scores across life stages from the 2015-2016 scores. Health professionals can use this graphic in presentations or handouts to illustrate healthy eating habits across life stages.   

We encourage you to use these resources and infographics to engage your community.  Stay tuned for additional blog posts that will be available this month and throughout the year highlighting the various life stages featured in the current Dietary Guidelines.   

Throughout the month, ODPHP will also feature blog posts highlighting nutrition guidance for several of the life stages described in the Dietary Guidelines. Be sure to check out the blog post summarizing guidance from  Chapter 1: Nutrition and Health Across the Lifespan  if you missed it. In the meantime, we encourage you to use the resources below and join us in celebrating National Nutrition Month. 

Sign up for future Dietary Guidelines updates  and materials! 

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An annual campaign during the month of March created by the Academy, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits.

A nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month ® , held annually in March, focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. The Academy's National Nutrition Month ® press releases feature information for the media on activities and messages that the Academy highlights every March — along with events and initiatives around RDN Day  and NDTR Day .

National Nutrition Month® started in 1973 as National Nutrition Week, and it became a month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing interest in nutrition.

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Resources to Help Celebrate National Nutrition Month

Every March, registered dietitian nutritionists celebrate National Nutrition Month®! During National Nutrition Month®, health and nutrition professionals share their knowledge and tips with patients, clients, family, friends and the community to increase awareness about the importance of good nutrition. Nutrition.gov has resources that can help people of all ages make healthier food choices and live an active lifestyle.

Nutrition.gov’s Life Cycle section serves as a gateway to age-specific nutrition information from infants to older adults. It provides tips for healthy eating during pregnancy and for women who are breastfeeding. Need tips for young, picky eaters? The Toddlers page has resources for parents, teachers and caregivers on building healthy mealtime habits, snack tips and ways to get young kids involved in the kitchen. The Children section includes interactive websites and games that kids can play to learn about nutrition, physical activity and food safety. Also, find kid-friendly recipes to try at home!

If you are a parent of teenagers, or teach them in the classroom, check out For Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers , located in the Teens section of the website. Here you will find free educational materials that can be used at home or in the classroom. Teens can also go to the Teens section to learn more about making positive food and lifestyle choices.

Nutrition.gov also provides resources for men, women and older adults, including tips for making better food choices, healthy eating as we age, interactive tools, recipes and physical activity tips. For more resources, and to stay up-to-date on what’s new, follow Nutrition.gov on Twitter . Happy National Nutrition Month®!

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Nutrition, Food and Diet in Health and Longevity: We Eat What We Are

Suresh i. s. rattan.

1 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark

Gurcharan Kaur

2 Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, India

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Nutrition generally refers to the macro- and micro-nutrients essential for survival, but we do not simply eat nutrition. Instead, we eat animal- and plant-based foods without always being conscious of its nutritional value. Furthermore, various cultural factors influence and shape our taste, preferences, taboos and practices towards preparing and consuming food as a meal and diet. Biogerontological understanding of ageing has identified food as one of the three foundational pillars of health and survival. Here we address the issues of nutrition, food and diet by analyzing the biological importance of macro- and micro-nutrients including hormetins, discussing the health claims for various types of food, and by reviewing the general principles of healthy dietary patterns, including meal timing, caloric restriction, and intermittent fasting. We also present our views about the need for refining our approaches and strategies for future research on nutrition, food and diet by incorporating the molecular, physiological, cultural and personal aspects of this crucial pillar of health, healthy ageing and longevity.

1. Introduction

The terms nutrition, food and diet are often used interchangeably. However, whereas nutrition generally refers to the macro- and micro-nutrients essential for survival, we do not simply eat nutrition, which could, in principle, be done in the form of a pill. Instead, we eat food which normally originates from animal- and plant-based sources, without us being aware of or conscious of its nutritional value. Even more importantly, various cultural factors influence and shape our taste, preferences, taboos and practices towards preparing and consuming food as a meal and diet [ 1 ]. Furthermore, geo-political-economic factors, such as governmental policies that oversee the production and consumption of genetically modified foods, geological/climatic challenges of growing such crops in different countries, and the economic affordability of different populations for such foods, also influence dietary habits and practices [ 2 , 3 ]. On top of all this lurks the social evolutionary history of our species, previously moving towards agriculture-based societies from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, now becoming the consumers of industrially processed food products that affect our general state of health, the emergence of diseases, and overall lifespan [ 1 , 4 ]. The aim of this article is to provide a commentary and perspective on nutrition, food and diet in the context of health, healthy ageing and longevity.

Biogerontological understanding of ageing has identified food as one of the three foundational pillars of health and survival. The other two pillars, especially in the case of human beings, are physical exercise and socio-mental engagement [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. A huge body of scientific and evidence-based information has been amassed with respect to the qualitative and quantitative nature of optimal nutrition for human health and survival. Furthermore, a lot more knowledge has developed regarding how different types of foods provide different kinds of nutrition to different extents, and how different dietary practices have either health-beneficial or health-harming effects.

Here we endeavor to address these issues of nutrition, food and diet by analyzing the biological importance of macro- and micro-nutrients, and by discussing the health-claims about animal-based versus plant-based foods, fermented foods, anti-inflammatory foods, functional foods, foods for brain health, and so on. Finally, we discuss the general principles of healthy dietary patterns, including the importance of circadian rhythms, meal timing, chronic caloric restriction (CR), and intermittent fasting for healthy ageing and extended lifespan [ 8 , 9 ]. We also present our views about the need for refining our approaches and strategies for future research on nutrition, food and diet by incorporating the molecular, physiological, cultural and personal aspects of this crucial pillar of health, healthy ageing and longevity.

2. Nutrition for Healthy Ageing

The science of nutrition or the “nutritional science” is a highly advanced field of study, and numerous excellent books, journals and other resources are available for fundamental information about all nutritional components [ 10 ]. Briefly, the three essential macronutrients which provide the basic materials for building biological structures and for producing energy required for all physiological and biochemical processes are proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Additionally, about 18 micronutrients, comprised of minerals and vitamins, facilitate the optimal utilization of macronutrients via their role in the catalysis of numerous biochemical processes, in the enhancement of their bioavailability and absorption, and in the balancing of the microbiome. Scientific literature is full of information about almost all nutritional components with respect to their importance and role in basic metabolism for survival and health throughout one’s life [ 10 ].

In the context of ageing, a major challenge to maintain health in old age is the imbalanced nutritional intake resulting into nutritional deficiency or malnutrition [ 11 , 12 ]. Among the various reasons for such a condition is the age-related decline in the digestive and metabolic activities, exacerbated by a reduced sense of taste and smell and worsening oral health, including the ability to chew and swallow [ 13 , 14 ]. Furthermore, an increased dependency of the older persons on medications for the management or treatment of various chronic conditions can be antagonistic to certain essential nutrients. For example, long term use of metformin, which is the most frequently prescribed drug against Type 2 diabetes, reduces the levels of vitamin B12 and folate in the body [ 15 , 16 ]. Some other well-known examples of the drugs used for the management or treatment of age-related conditions are cholesterol-lowering medicine statin which can cause coenzyme Q10 levels to be too low; various diuretics (water pills) can cause potassium levels to be too low; and antacids can decrease the levels of vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium and other minerals [ 15 , 16 ]. Thus, medications used in the treatment of chronic diseases in old age can also be “nutrient wasting” or “anti-nutrient” and may cause a decrease in the absorption, bioavailability and utilization of essential micronutrients and may have deleterious effects to health [ 11 ]. In contrast, many nutritional components have the potential to interact with various drugs leading to reduced therapeutic efficacy of the drug or increased adverse effects of the drug, which can have serious health consequences. For example, calcium in dairy products like milk, cheese and yoghurt can inhibit the absorption of antibiotics in the tetracycline and quinolone class, thus compromising their ability to treat infection effectively. Some other well-known examples of food sources which can alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of various drugs are grape fruits, bananas, apple juice, orange juice, soybean flour, walnuts and high-fiber foods (see: https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2022/food-medication-interaction.html (accessed on 13 November 2022)).

It is also known that the nutritional requirements of older persons differ both qualitatively and quantitatively from young adults [ 11 ]. This is mainly attributed to the age-related decline in the bioavailability of nutrients, reduced appetite, also known as ‘anorexia of ageing,’ as well as energy expenditure [ 12 , 17 , 18 ]. Therefore, in order to maintain a healthy energy balance, the daily uptake of total calories may need to be curtailed without adversely affecting the nutritional balance. This may be achieved by using nutritional supplements with various vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients, without adding to the burden of total calories [ 12 , 17 , 18 ]. More recently, the science of nutrigenomics (how various nutrients affect gene expression), and the science of nutrigenetics (how individual genetic variations respond to different nutrients) are generating novel and important information on the role of nutrients in health, survival and longevity.

3. Food for Healthy Ageing

The concept of healthy ageing is still being debated among biogerontologists, social-gerontologists and medical practioners. It is generally agreed that an adequate physical and mental independence in the activities of daily living can be a pragmatic definition of health in old age [ 7 ]. Thus, healthy ageing can be understood as a state of maintaining, recovering and enhancing health in old age, and the foods and dietary practices which facilitate achieving this state can be termed as healthy foods and diets.

From this perspective, although nutritional requirements for a healthy and long life could be, in principle, fulfilled by simply taking macro- and micro-nutrients in their pure chemical forms, that is not realistic, practical, attractive or acceptable to most people. In practice, nutrition is obtained by consuming animals and plants as sources of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and micronutrients. There is a plethora of tested and reliable information available about various food sources with respect to the types and proportion of various nutrients present in them. However, there are still ongoing discussions and debates as to what food sources are best for human health and longevity [ 19 , 20 ]. Often such discussions are emotionally highly charged with arguments based on faith, traditions, economy and, more recently, on political views with respect to the present global climate crisis and sustainability.

Scientifically, there is no ideal food for health and longevity. Varying agricultural and food production practices affect the nutritional composition, durability and health beneficial values of various foods. Furthermore, the highly complex “science of cooking” [ 21 ], evolved globally during thousands of years of human cultural evolution, has discovered the pros and cons of food preparation methods such as soaking, boiling, frying, roasting, fermenting and other modes of extracting, all with respect to how best to use these food sources for increasing the digestibility and bioavailability of various nutrients, as well as how to eliminate the dangers and toxic effects of other chemicals present in the food.

The science of food preparation and utilization has also discovered some paradoxical uses of natural compounds, especially the phytochemicals such as polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids and others. Most of these compounds are produced by plants as toxins in response to various stresses, and as defenses against microbial infections [ 22 , 23 ]. However, humans have discovered, mostly by trial and error, that numerous such toxic compounds present in algae, fungi, herbs and other sources can be used in small doses as spices and condiments with potential benefits of food preservation, taste enhancement and health promotion [ 23 ].

The phenomenon of “physiological hormesis” [ 24 ] is a special example of the health beneficial effects of phytotoxins. According to the concept of hormesis, a deliberate and repeated use of low doses of natural or synthetic toxins in the food can induce one or more stress responses in cells and tissues, followed by the stimulation of numerous defensive repair and maintenance processes [ 25 , 26 ]. Such hormesis-inducing compounds and other conditions are known as hormetins, categorized as nutritional, physical, biological and mental hormetins [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Of these, nutritional hormetins, present naturally in the food or as synthetic hormetins to be used as food supplements, are attracting great attention from food-researchers and the nutraceutical and cosmeceutical industry [ 27 , 30 ]. Other food supplements being tested and promoted for health and longevity are various prebiotics and probiotics strengthening and balancing our gut microbiota [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].

Recently, food corporations in pursuit of both exploiting and creating a market for healthy ageing products, have taken many initiatives in producing new products under the flagship of nutraceuticals, super-foods, functional foods, etc. Such products are claimed and marketed not only for their nutritional value, but also for their therapeutic potentials [ 10 ]. Often the claims for such foods are hyped and endorsed as, for example, anti-inflammatory foods, food for the brain, food for physical endurance, complete foods, anti-ageing foods and so on [ 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Traditional foods enriched with a variety of minerals, vitamins and hormetins are generally promoted as “functional foods” [ 37 ]. Even in the case of milk and dairy products, novel and innovative formulations are claimed to improve their functionality and health promotional abilities [ 38 ]. However, there is yet a lot to be discovered and understood about such reformulated, fortified and redesigned foods with respect to their short- and long-term effects on physiology, microbiota balance and metabolic disorders in the context of health and longevity.

4. Diet and Culture for Healthy and Long Life

What elevates food to become diet and a meal is the manner and the context in which that food is consumed [ 4 ]. Numerous traditional and socio-cultural facets of dietary habits can be even more significant than their molecular, biochemical, and physiological concerns regarding their nutritional ingredients and composition. For example, various well-known diets, such as the paleo, the ketogenic, the Chinese, the Ayurvedic, the Mediterranean, the kosher, the halal, the vegetarian, and more recently, the vegan diet, are some of the diverse expressions of such cultural, social, and political practices [ 1 ]. The consequent health-related claims of such varied dietary patterns have influenced their acceptance and adaptation globally and cross-culturally.

Furthermore, our rapidly developing understanding about how biological daily rhythms affect and regulate nutritional needs, termed “chrono-nutrition”, has become a crucial aspect of optimal and healthy eating habits [ 39 , 40 ]. A similar situation is the so-called “nutrient timing” that involves consuming food at strategic times for achieving certain specific outcomes, such as weight reduction, muscle strength, and athletic performance. The meal-timing and dietary patterns are more anticipatory of health-related outcomes than any specific foods or nutrients by themselves [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. However, encouraging people to adopt healthy dietary patterns and meal-timing requires both the availability, accessibility and affordability of food, and the intentional, cultural and behavioral preferences of the people.

Looking back at the widely varying and constantly changing cultural history of human dietary practices, one realizes that elaborate social practices, rituals and normative behaviors for obtaining, preparing and consuming food, are often more critical aspects of health-preservation and health-promotion than just the right combination of nutrients. Therefore, one cannot decide on a universal food composition and consumption pattern ignoring the history and the cultural practices and preferences of the consumers. After all, “we eat what we are”, and not, as the old adage says, “we are what we eat”.

5. Conclusions and Perspectives

Food is certainly one of the foundational pillars of good and sustained health. Directed and selective evolution through agricultural practices and experimental manipulation and modification of food components have been among the primary targets for improving food quality. This is further authenticated by extensive research performed, mainly on experimental animal and cell culture model systems, demonstrating the health-promoting effects of individual nutritional components and biological extracts in the regulation, inhibition or stimulation of different molecular pathways with reference to healthy ageing and longevity [ 45 ]. Similarly, individual nutrients or a combination of a few nutrients are being tested for their potential use as calorie restriction mimetics, hormetins and senolytics [ 46 , 47 , 48 ]. However, most commonly, these therapeutic strategies follow the traditional “one target, one missile” pharmaceutical-like approach, and consider ageing as a treatable disease. Based on the results obtained from such experimental studies, the claims and promises made which can often be either naïve extrapolations from experimental model systems to human applications, or exaggerated claims and even false promises [ 49 ].

Other innovative, and possibly holistic, food- and diet-based interventional strategies for healthy ageing are adopting regimens such as caloric- and dietary-restriction, as well as time-restricted eating (TRE). Intermittent fasting (IF), the regimen based on manipulating the eating/fasting timing, is another promising interventional strategy for healthy ageing. Chrono-nutrition, which denotes the link between circadian rhythms and nutrient-sensing pathways, is a novel concept illustrating how meal timings alignment with the inherent molecular clocks of the cells functions to preserve metabolic health. TRE, which is a variant of the IF regimen, claims that food intake timing in alignment with the circadian rhythm is more beneficial for health and longevity [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 50 ]. Moreover, TRE has translational benefits and is easy to complete in the long term as it only requires limiting the eating time to 8–10 h during the day and the fasting window of 12–16 h without restricting the amount of calories consumed. Some pilot studies on the TRE regimen have reported improvement in glucose tolerance and the management of body weight and blood pressure in obese adults as well as men at risk of T2D. Meta-analyses of several pilot scale studies in human subjects suggest and support the beneficial effects of a TRE regimen on several health indicators [ 39 , 50 ]. Several other practical recommendations, based on human clinical trials have also been recommended for meeting the optimal requirements of nutrition in old age, and for preventing or slowing down the progression of metabolic syndromes [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 50 ].

What we have earlier discussed in detail [ 4 ] is supported by the following quote: “…food is more than just being one of the three pillars of health. Food is both the foundation and the scaffolding for the building and survival of an organism on a daily basis. Scientific research on the macro- and micro-nutrient components of food has developed deep understanding of their molecular, biochemical and physiological roles and modes of action. Various recommendations are repeatedly made and modified for some optimal daily requirements of nutrients for maintaining and enhancing health, and for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Can we envisage developing a “nutrition pill” for perfect health, which could be used globally, across cultures, and at all ages? We don’t think so” [ 4 ].

Our present knowledge about the need and significance of nutrients is mostly gathered from the experimental studies using individual active components isolated from various food sources. In reality, however, these nutritional components co-exist interactively with numerous other compounds, and often become chemically modified through the process of cooking and preservation, affecting their stability and bioavailability. There is still a lot to be understood about how the combination of foods, cooking methods and dietary practices affect health-related outcomes, especially with respect to ageing and healthspan.

An abundance of folk knowledge in all cultures about food-related ‘dos and don’ts’ requires scientific verification and validation. We also need to reconsider and change our present scientific protocols for nutritional research, which seem to be impractical for food and dietary research at the level of the population. It is a great scientific achievement that we have amassed a body of information with respect to the nature of nutritional components required for health and survival, the foods which can provide those nutritional components and the variety of dietary and eating practices which seem to be optimal for healthy survival and longevity.

Finally, whereas abundant availability of and accessibility to food in some parts of the world has led to over-consumption and consequent life-style-induced metabolic diseases and obesity, in many other parts of the world food scarcity and economic disparity continue to perpetuate starvation, malnutrition, poor health and shortened lifespan. Often, it is not a lack of knowledge about the optimal nutrition, food and diet that leads to making bad choices; rather, it is either our inability to access and afford healthy foods or our gullibility to fall prey to the exaggerated claims in the commercial interests of food producing and marketing companies. We must continue to gather more scientific information and knowledge about the biochemical, physiological and cultural aspects of nutrition, food and diet, which should then be recommended and applied wisely and globally, incorporating the social, cultural and environmental needs of all. After all, “we eat what we are”, and not merely “we are what we eat”!

Funding Statement

One of the authors, GK, was funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI), Government of India, grant (DST/CSRI/2018/99). This funding agency has no role in study design, manuscript writing, and data interpretation.

Author Contributions

Both authors (S.I.S.R. and G.K.) conceptualized and wrote the paper equally. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Addressing stunting and malnutrition should go beyond nutrition month celebration.

MANILA, 29 July 2020 – UNICEF Philippines lauds the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Department of Health (DOH) for a successful run of this year’s Nutrition Month in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF calls on the Government, policymakers, and the public to work together towards robust health and nutrition services for children in the Philippines. The themes “Batang Pinoy, Sana Tall… Iwas Stunting, Sama All!” and “Iwas ALL din sa COVID-19” raised awareness improving resilience against COVID-19 while minimizing the long-term effects of malnutrition.

“The 46th Nutrition Month encouraged Filipino families and communities to protect their children’s right to proper nutrition and good health,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said. “Beyond Nutrition Month, we look forward to continuously working with NNC, DOH, and other partners to address malnutrition for the betterment of our children’s future and the achievement of their full potential.”

Stunting is defined as impaired growth and development experienced due to poor nutrition. Children who are stunted are too short for their age. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), childhood stunting is “one of the most significant impediments to human development, globally affecting approximately 162 million children under the age of 5 years. It is largely an irreversible outcome of inadequate nutrition and repeated bouts of infection during the first 1000 days of a child’s life.”  Children who are stunted do less well at school and earn lower wages as adults.

In the Philippines, a third of children are stunted. the Philippines ranks fifth among countries in the East Asia and Pacific Region with the highest stunting prevalence and one of 10 countries with the highest number of stunted children in the world. In the last 15 years, little progress has been made to reduce stunting in the country despite good economic growth and increased health budgets.

The WHO estimates that by 2025, about 127 million children under five years old will be stunted assuming that current trends continue. With the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a possibility that more children will be stunted if there are no mitigating measures put in place.

UNICEF supported Nutrition Month activities, particularly the conduct of the First 1000 Days Webinar Series with NNC, DOH, and Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD). The webinar called on all sectors of society – from National and Local Government, NGOS and CSOs, Development Partners and UN, Academe, to Private Sector and Professional Organizations – to scale up and deliver critical interventions during the First 1000 days of a child's life. After the warm reception of the webinar series in Luzon and Visayas on July 23 and July 27, participants from Mindanao will also able to take part on August 4.

Key legislations enacted by Congress that promote and protect children’s nutrition include Republic Act (RA) 11148 or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act RA 10028 of the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act, RA 11210 or the Expanded Maternity Leave Act, and Executive Order 51 or the Philippine Milk Code. Among the other milestones related to the reduction of stunting and malnutrition in the country is the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2017-2022 that provides the framework to address malnutrition, including stunting, and its underlying factors.

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UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children in the Philippines, visit www.unicef.ph .

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Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Better nutrition is related to improved infant, child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, lower risk of non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and longevity.

Healthy children learn better. People with adequate nutrition are more productive and can create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of poverty and hunger.

Malnutrition, in every form, presents significant threats to human health. Today the world faces a double burden of malnutrition that includes both undernutrition and overweight, especially in low- and middle-income countries. There are multiple forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition (wasting or stunting), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight, obesity, and resulting diet-related noncommunicable diseases.

The developmental, economic, social, and medical impacts of the global burden of malnutrition are serious and lasting for individuals and their families, for communities and for countries.

Most recent estimates show that globally, 149.2 million children under the age of 5 years of age are stunted (too short for their age) and 45.4 million are wasted (underweight for their height).  The number of children with stunting is declining in all regions except Africa. Over three-quarters of all children suffering from severe wasting live in Asia.

Around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition. These mostly occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Anaemia is a serious global public health problem that particularly affects young children and pregnant women. WHO estimates that 40% of children less than 5 years of age and 37% of pregnant women worldwide are anaemic. Thirty percent of women of reproductive age have anaemia.

Globally, 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese and 38.9 million children under 5 years of age are overweight. Rates of childhood overweight and obesity are rising, particularly in high-income and upper-middle-income countries.

Although breastfeeding protects against undernutrition and overweight, only 44% of infants under 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed.

High sodium consumption (>5 g salt/day) contributes to high blood pressure and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Most people consume too much salt – on average 9–12 grams per day, or around twice the recommended maximum level of intake.

According to the 2016–2025 nutrition strategy, WHO uses its convening power to help set, align and advocate for priorities and policies that move nutrition forward globally; develops evidence-informed guidance based on robust scientific and ethical frameworks; supports the adoption of guidance and implementation of effective nutrition actions; and monitors and evaluates policy and programme implementation and nutrition outcomes.

This work is framed by the Comprehensive implementation plan on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition, adopted by Member States through a World Health Assembly resolution in 2012. Actions to end malnutrition are also vital for achieving the diet-related targets of the Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013–2020, the Global strategy for women’s, children’s, and adolescent’s health 2016–2030, the report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (2016), and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

In May 2018, the Health Assembly approved the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13), which guides the work of WHO in 2019–2023. Reduction of salt/sodium intake and elimination of industrially produced trans-fats from the food supply are identified in GPW13 as part of WHO’s priority actions to achieve the aims of ensuring healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

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Healthy Nutrition: Case Study of Malnutrition Essay

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Many people find it challenging to follow dietary guidelines as a result of recent environmental and lifestyle changes. Because of shifting familial and societal dynamics, they are receiving less assistance and are having difficulty eating the necessary nutrient-dense diet. There may be a need for tailored dietary needs for sickness and medicine used in this situation. A fundamental threat to healthy aging and lack of serious diseases is malnutrition. Weight loss, weariness, irritability, and vitamin deficits are all signs of malnutrition (Dewi et al., 2020). On the other side, it can lead to obesity and overweight. Sofia, who is 18 years old, is in the third month of her pregnancy. Anemia, hemorrhage, and mortality in mothers can all be caused by insufficient nutrition during pregnancy (Castrogiovanni & Imbesi, 2017). Low birth weight, malnutrition, and developmental delays in children are all possible outcomes (Dewi et al., 2020). Sofia’s possible malnutrition might be owing to her demanding schedule (40 hours per week) and lack of prenatal care, which is an important part of a healthy pregnancy.

Sofia, at the age of 18, needs to incorporate nutritious carbs into her diet. Protein also serves as an essential component of a teenager’s diet. Teenagers in this age group should consume around 2500-2800 calories per day (Castrogiovanni & Imbesi, 2017). A healthy pregnancy needs an additional 300 calories every day (Lee et al., 2018). These calories should come from a well-balanced diet of protein, fruits, and vegetables, with a minimum of sweets and alcohol (Lee et al., 2018). During pregnancy, fluid intake is also a vital aspect of nutrition. In addition to the fluids present in juices and soups, it may be maintained by drinking several glasses of water each day. Her nutrition (and possible malnutrition) is unaffected by her cultural or socioeconomic position in this instance since she indicates a welcoming atmosphere and cares in her surroundings. In certain cases, this might be an issue, as various cultures and customs deal with pregnancy in different ways.

Castrogiovanni, P., & Imbesi, R. (2017). The role of malnutrition during pregnancy and its effects on brain and skeletal muscle postnatal development. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 2 (3), 30.

Dewi, N. U., Nurulfuadi, N., Aiman, U., Hartini, D. A., Prasanna, F., & Bohari, B. (2020). Food insecurity and anthropometry in adolescents: A literature review. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 8 (4), 234-240.

Lee, Y. Q., Collins, C. E., Gordon, A., Rae, K. M., & Pringle, K. G. (2018). The relationship between maternal nutrition during pregnancy and offspring kidney structure and function in humans: a systematic review. Nutrients, 10 (2), 241.

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Nutrition Essay | Essay on Nutrition for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by Prasanna

Nutrition Essay:  The section of science that deals with the interpretation of nutrients and food in the animal system to sustain a healthy life and to keep health issues at check is known as ‘nutrition.’ The topic of nutrition is vulnerably proportional to the economic stability of a society or a country at a broader aspect.

A necessity that keeps life running at the cost of money, to which a noticeable chunk of the society is deprived but remains unattended to, is also ‘nutrition.’

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Nutrition for Students and Kids in English

We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic nutrition for reference.

Long Essay on Nutrition 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Nutrition is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

As the name suggests, ‘nutrition’ includes in itself’ nutrients’ which can be broadly classified as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, roughage, and water. A balanced amount of these nutrients in the right proportions constitute a healthy diet.

The words’ balanced’ and ‘right proportions’ mentioned previously are key to life when it comes to consuming nutrients. ‘Optimum Nutrition’ is defined as eating the right amount of nutrients in a proper schedule to achieve the best performance and longest possible lifetime in good health. The importance of nutrition can be visibly highlighted by the increasing number of nutrient deficiency diseases such as night blindness, scurvy, cretinism, anemia, and nutrient excess health-threatening conditions like obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other cardiovascular anomalies.

Undernutrition in underdeveloped and developing countries has been marked by malnutrition due to lack of even the basic staple nutrients causing diseases like marasmus and kwashiorkor. Animal nutrition on the molecular level comes from nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen compounds. Nutrients are the building blocks of the food chain, which interlink to form food webs and influence world food production via biodiversity.

Similarly, plant nutrition is referred to as the chemicals that are necessary for plant growth and other physiological processes in plants like metabolism, transport, photosynthesis, etc. Nutrients essential for plants are obtained from the soil, air, sunlight, and as a whole from the earth; thus, the nutrients can be recycled and renewed, making it easily available for sustenance of life.

Fatigue, tiredness, and apathy are common among the working class as well as students. To feel refreshed, motivated as well as reenergized, all we require is the proper nutrition for our systems. Nutrition helps an individual attain optimal health throughout life as well as boost self-esteem.

Eating a balanced diet improves a person’s health and well-being and reduces risks of major causes of death. The other benefits of nutrition include a healthy heart, strength in teeth and bones, maintains good brain health, boosts immunity, bolsters the body to fight against diseases, keeps higher energy levels, and keeps the bodyweight at check. With such a minimum as maintaining our diet comes the strength of independence or self-dependence. The topic of nutrition has gained its importance by being studied and researched over for years. Nutrition is taught as a subject in various levels of education, and professions such as farmers, scientists, nutritionists, dietitians, health counselors, and doctors who form the pillar of our society are all based on nutrition fundamentals.

Progressive research works from various parts of the world on ‘nutrition’ has helped in aiding health conditions for the living, yet a big section of society is not reached out for proper food supplies. With the current progressive rate of scientific enhancement in the field of nutrition, resulting in increasing food production, we should be able to reach out to those who are dying due to the lack of something as basic as food, which should be available to everyone equally.

Short Essay on Nutrition 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Nutrition is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

‘Nutrition’ is one of the fundamentals of living that can be defined as the assimilation of food into living systems that help life function daily.

The classification of nutrition can vary from plants to animals, but they are interlinked by the food chains that form the ecosystem’s structural framework.

The components of nutrition include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibers, vitamins, minerals, water, and roughage when consumed in the right proportions, gives it the name of ‘balanced diet.’ Likewise, in plants, chemicals being obtained through absorption, transpiration, and photosynthesis are the nutrients that help in their internal processes.

The benefits of following a good nutritional diet plan ranges from good physical health to proper well-being and ensure a good immune system. Good nutrition with proper and regular exercise can assure a person a disease-free future. Even during ailment, proper nutrition can help cure a patient faster and safer. Hence adequate nutrition is a key to a healthy life and a necessity that should be looked after at any cost.

10 Lines on Nutrition in English

• Nutrition is a natural demand for every source of life on earth.
• Being deprived of nutrition is as severe as being deprived of any other fundamental rights.
• Lack of nutrition can give rise to lethal diseases.
• The knowledge of the classification of nutrients and their biological systems’ roles should be known to all.
• The benefits of proper nutrition ensure physical and mental well-being.
• Malnutrition has always been an issue adding to the rise in global hunger for years, as reported by the United Nations.
• As reported, 1.5 million children die annually due to the lack of proper nutrition.
• The Human Body’s primary requirement is nutrition. It would be impossible to sustain life without it.
• Studies on nutrition should be encouraged.
• Lack of nutrition gives rise to social disparity and discrimination.

FAQ’s on Nutrition Essay

Question 1. What are the benefits of proper nutrition?

Answer:  Proper nutrition helps build the immune system of the body and maintain good physical and mental health.

Question 2. What is a balanced diet?

Answer:  A balanced diet includes all types of the necessary nutrients in the right amount at proper intervals, helping maintain the various human and plant organ systems.

Question 3. What are the results due to a lack of nutrition?

Answer:  The lack of proper nutrition can severely result in malnutrition, which is currently a cause of global hunger.

Question 4. What food should be consumed daily?

Answer:  A diet that includes all of the fundamental nutrients and water in the right amount should be consumed daily with regular exercise.

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Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month)

Topics covered:

• Issues related to health and Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre.

What to study?

For Prelims: Poshan Maah and POSHAN Abhiyan – features.

For Mains: Significance of the campaign and government efforts to address malnutrition in the country.

Context : The Government is celebrating the month of September, 2019 as the National Nutrition Month under the Poshan Abhiyan .

About Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month):

Objective : To take the messages of POSHAN to the grass root level.

The programme is an initiative of WCD Ministry and NITI Aayog  is supported by 18 line Ministries/Departments/Government Organizations.

• It seeks to synergise all efforts by leveraging technology and intends to take nutrition awareness to the level of Jan Andolan or People’s Movement.
• The programme focuses on 8 themes – Antenatal Care, Optimal Breastfeeding (Early & Exclusive), Complementary Feeding, Anemia, Growth Monitoring, Girls-education, diet, right age of Marriage, Hygiene & Sanitation, Food Fortification.

About POSHAN Abhiyan:

POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) was launched on 8th March, 2018 .

Objectives : The programme through use of technology, a targeted approach and convergence strives to reduce the level of Stunting, Under-nutrition, Anaemia and Low Birth Weight in Children, as also, focus on Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers, thus holistically addressing malnutrition.

Aims : POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters over the next few years.

Coverage : To ensure a holistic approach, all 36 States/UTs and 718 districts will be covered in a phased manner by the year 2020.

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The Changing Political Geography of COVID-19 Over the Last Two Years

Over the past two years, the official count of coronavirus deaths in the United States has risen and is now approaching 1 million lives. Large majorities of Americans say they personally know someone who has been hospitalized or died of the coronavirus , and it has impacted – in varying degrees – nearly every aspect of life .

A new Pew Research Center analysis of official reports of COVID-19-related deaths across the country, based on mortality data collected by The New York Times, shows how the dynamics of the pandemic have shifted over the past two years.

A timeline of the shifting geography of the pandemic

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how the geography of the coronavirus outbreak has changed over its course. For this analysis, we relied on official reports of deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus collected and maintained by The New York Times .

The estimates provided in this report are subject to several sources of error. There may be significant differences between the true number of deaths due to COVID-19 and the official reported counts of those deaths. There may also be variation across the states in the quality and types of data reported. For example, most states report deaths based on the residency of the deceased person rather than the location where they died. The New York Times collects data from many different local health agencies, and this likely leads to some additional measurement error.

This analysis relies on county-level data. Counties in the United States vary widely in their population sizes, so in many places in the essay, we divide counties into approximately equal-sized groups (in terms of their population) for comparability or report on population adjusted death rates rather than total counts of deaths.

The pandemic has rolled across the U.S. unevenly and in waves. Today, the death toll of the pandemic looks very different from how it looked in the early part of 2020 . The first wave (roughly the first 125,000 deaths from March 2020 through June 2020) was largely geographically concentrated in the Northeast and in particular the New York City region. During the summer of 2020, the largest share of the roughly 80,000 deaths that occurred during the pandemic’s second wave were in the southern parts of the country.

The fall and winter months of 2020 and early 2021 were the deadliest of the pandemic to date. More than 370,000 Americans died of COVID-19 between October 2020 and April 2021; the geographic distinctions that characterized the earlier waves became much less pronounced.

By the spring and summer of 2021, the nationwide death rate had slowed significantly, and vaccines were widely available to all adults who wanted them. But starting at the end of the summer, the fourth and fifth waves (marked by new variants of the virus, delta and then omicron) came in quick succession and claimed more than 300,000 lives.

In many cases, the characteristics of communities that were associated with higher death rates at the beginning of the pandemic are now associated with lower death rates (and vice versa). Early in the pandemic, urban areas were disproportionately impacted. During the first wave, the coronavirus death rate in the 10% of the country that lives in the most densely populated counties was more than nine times that of the death rate among the 10% of the population living in the least densely populated counties. In each subsequent wave, however, the nation’s least dense counties have registered higher death rates than the most densely populated places.

Despite the staggering death toll in densely populated urban areas during the first months of the pandemic (an average 36 monthly deaths per 100,000 residents), the overall death rate over the course of the pandemic is slightly higher in the least populated parts of the country (an average monthly 15 deaths per 100,000 among the 10% living in the least densely populated counties vs. 13 per 100,000 among the 10% in the most densely populated counties).

As the relationship between population density and coronavirus death rates has changed over the course of the pandemic, so too has the relationship between counties’ voting patterns and their death rates from COVID-19.

In the spring of 2020, the areas recording the greatest numbers of deaths were much more likely to vote Democratic than Republican. But by the third wave of the pandemic, which began in fall 2020, the pattern had reversed: Counties that voted for Donald Trump over Joe Biden were suffering substantially more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic than those that voted for Biden over Trump. This reversal is likely a result of several factors including differences in mitigation efforts and vaccine uptake, demographic differences, and other differences that are correlated with partisanship at the county level.

During this third wave – which continued into early 2021 – the coronavirus death rate among the 20% of Americans living in counties that supported Trump by the highest margins in 2020 was about 170% of the death rate among the one-in-five Americans living in counties that supported Biden by the largest margins.

As vaccines became more widely available, this discrepancy between “blue” and “red” counties became even larger as the virulent delta strain of the pandemic spread across the country during the summer and fall of 2021, even as the total number of deaths fell somewhat from its third wave peak.

During the fourth wave of the pandemic, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were about four times what they were in the most pro-Biden counties. When the highly transmissible omicron variant began to spread in the U.S. in late 2021, these differences narrowed substantially. However, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were still about 180% of what they were in the most pro-Biden counties throughout late 2021 and early 2022.

The cumulative impact of these divergent death rates is a wide difference in total deaths from COVID-19 between the most pro-Trump and most pro-Biden parts of the country. Since the pandemic began, counties representing the 20% of the population where Trump ran up his highest margins in 2020 have experienced nearly 70,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than have the counties representing the 20% of population where Biden performed best. Overall, the COVID-19 death rate in all c ounties Trump won in 2020 is substantially higher than it is in counties Biden won (as of the end of February 2022, 326 per 100,000 in Trump counties and 258 per 100,000 in Biden counties).

Partisan divide in COVID-19 deaths widened as more vaccines became available

Partisan differences in COVID-19 death rates expanded dramatically after the availability of vaccines increased. Unvaccinated people are at far higher risk of death and hospitalization from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccination decisions are strongly associated with partisanship . Among the large majority of counties for which reliable vaccination data exists, counties that supported Trump at higher margins have substantially lower vaccination rates than those that supported Biden at higher margins.

Counties with lower rates of vaccination registered substantially greater death rates during each wave in which vaccines were widely available.

During the fall of 2021 (roughly corresponding to the delta wave), about 10% of Americans lived in counties with adult vaccination rates lower than 40% as of July 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were about six times as high as death rates in counties where 70% or more of the adult population was vaccinated.

More Americans were vaccinated heading into the winter of 2021 and 2022 (roughly corresponding to the omicron wave), but nearly 10% of the country lived in areas where less than half of the adult population was vaccinated as of November 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were roughly twice what they were in counties that had 80% or more of their population vaccinated. ( Note: The statistics here reflect the death rates in the county as a whole, not rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, though individual-level data finds that death rates among unvaccinated people are far higher than among vaccinated people.)

This analysis relies on official reports of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the United States collected and reported by The New York Times .

COVID-19 deaths in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not included in this analysis. Additionally, deaths without a specific geographic location have been excluded.

Data was pulled from the GitHub repository maintained by The New York Times on March 1, 2022, and reflects reported coronavirus deaths through Feb. 28.

There are several anomalies in the deaths data. Many locales drop off their reporting on the weekends and holidays. In addition to the rhythm of the reporting cycle, there are many instances where a locality will revise the count of its deaths downward (usually only by a small amount) or release a large batch of previously unreported deaths on a single day. The downward revisions were identified and retroactively applied to earlier days.

Large batches of cases were identified by finding days that increased by more than 10 deaths and were 10 standard deviations above the norm for a county within a 30-day window. Deaths reported in these anomalous batches were then evenly distributed across the days leading up to when they were released.

Population data for U.S. counties comes from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey estimates published by the Census Bureau (accessed through the tidycensus package in R on Feb. 21). The 2020 vote share for each county was purchased from Dave Leip’s Election Atlas (downloaded on Nov. 21, 2021).

The analysis looks at deaths among counties based on their 2020 vote. Counties were grouped into five groups with approximately equal population. For analyses that include 2020 vote, Alaskan counties are excluded because Alaska does not report its election results at the county level. The table below provides more details.

This essay benefited greatly from thoughtful comments and consultation with many individuals around Pew Research Center. Jocelyn Kiley, Carroll Doherty and Jeb Bell provided invaluable editorial guidance. Peter Bell and Alissa Scheller contributed their expertise in visualization, Ben Wormald built the map animation, and Reem Nadeem did the digital production. Andrew Daniller provided careful attention to the quality check process, and David Kent’s watchful copy editing eye brought clarity to some difficult concepts.

Lead photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Nutrition Month Theme 2022: “New normal na nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng solusyon!”

• Mark Pere Madrona
• April 4, 2022
• Department of Education , education

Education institutions nationwide will be celebrating the annual National Nutrition Month or “Buwan ng Nutrisyon” this coming July. According to the National Nutrition Council (NNC), the theme for this year’s celebration is “ Ne w normal na nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng solusyon !”

In a statement posted on its website , the NNC explained that the theme “calls for strengthened nutrition interventions and solidarity towards nutrition improvement as the country shifts towards living with the COVID-19 virus.” The agency added that nutrition is important in building resilience from pandemic to endemic paradigm.

“The pandemic has made a huge impact on nutrition such as disruptions in the delivery of nutrition and related services, increased hunger incidence due, and many more. But there are also positive impacts such as innovation in service delivery, home food production, increased awareness of one’s health and consuming healthy diets, and the solidarity amongst the people to help each other,” the agency further elaborated.

The national nutrition month is celebrated every July as stipulated in Presidential Decree 491, which also mandated the creation of NNC in 1974. It must be noted that during that time, then-President Ferdinand Marcos had both executive and legislative powers.

The Department of Education is expected to release an official memorandum in the coming days or weeks pertaining to this. This post will be updated if and when that has been published.  Typically, schools organize various activities and events connected to the nutrition month including essay writing, jingle-making, as well as slogan-making contests.

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About Author

The Filipino Scribe (TFS) is managed by Mark Pere Madrona, a multi-awarded writer and licensed professional teacher from the Philippines.

Mr. Madrona earned his master’s degree in history from the University of the Philippines-Diliman last 2020. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism cum laude from the same university back in 2010. His area of interests includes Philippine journalism, history, and politics as well as social media.

Know more about him here: https://www.filipinoscribe.com/about/.

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