Nutrition and Health Education

The Role of the Nurse

Abstract

Nutrition refers to the study of what food does to the body and is concerned primarily with the part played by nutrients in the body growth, development and health maintenance. Adequate nutrition plays key roles in the health and well-being of humanity. The importance of proper nutrition to good health therefore cannot be overemphasized. Little wonder that the World Health Organization places much emphasis on proper nutrition as basic to the attainment of set goals towards attaining health for all citizens of the world in the year 2020 and beyond. Attainment of healthy, thriving lives and well-being which is free from preventable diseases, disabilities, and premature death are possible with proper nutrition. Attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 is also possible with effective nutrition health education. Nutrition education entails breaking down a large body of nutritional knowledge into small, individual components that are presented to clients at a rate and level, to which they are able to absorb and use the information to form and reinforce healthy dietary habits. The role of the Nurse in nutritional health education is of key importance. Nurses’ role as care giver, teacher, patients’ advocate and patients care coordinator enables opportunity for nutrition health education. The Nurse uses diet therapy and nutrition heath education among other therapies to manage clients in health and illness conditions. The implication is that there is therefore need for adequate educational preparation of the Nurse in that regards to influence and impact nutrition health education for positive health outcomes and the subsequent achievement of vision 2030.