HEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES

MEANING OF FEEDING HABITS

Feeding or eating habits are your everyday patterns of eating. It involves the tendency to reach out for foods whenever you are hungry. These habits vary from one person to another and from one locality to another. But it is good to maintain healthy feeding habit by choosing foods which are nourishing and properly prepared.

Table of Contents

Healthy feeding habit results from choosing nutritious food in a conscious way.

HEALTHY FEEDING PRACTICES

Eat a variety of foods. Eat food from all the food groups
Balance the food you eat with physical activity
Always eat three balanced meals every day
Eat regularly and do not skip meals
Choose nutritious foods in a conscious way
Choose diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits
Choose a diet that is moderate in sugar
Make use of food in season
Choose diet that is moderate in salt and sodium
Choose diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

HEALTHY EATING PRACTICES

Sit upright at the dining table but do not allow your body to touch the table
Always wash your hands before and after meals
Do not hurry over meal or eat too quickly.
When eating take just enough food that can easily go into your mouth
Chew your food properly
Do not talk with food in your mouth
Close your mouth when chewing food
Never use knife to put food into your mouth
Use cutlery properly
Do not put too much food into the mouth at a time
Do not stretch your hand over someone’s food in order to reach for salt or water
Do not take food directly from the serving dish into your mouth except with traditional service
Do not be greedy. Consider others when helping yourself with food
Always be polite when eating or serving others.

EFFECTS OF HEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES

It promotes good health
It makes one look and feel better
It makes one good and energetic
It prevent one from getting some diseases later in life e.g. diabetes, obesity, heart diseases
It makes the body better equipped to heal fast and properly, than a poorly nourished one.
It makes the person is physically alert and mentally active.

EFFECTS OF UNHEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES

Kwashiorkor
Marasmus
Anaemia
Beriberi
Pellagra
Scurvy
Rickets
Night blindness
Goitre
Oedema
Obesity
Under weight
Over weight
Stomach upset
Indigestion

FOOD ADDITIVES

Food additives are substances deliberately added to food to improve the appearance, colour, texture, flavour, nutritive value, aroma and taste and also to preserve the food. Examples African lemon grass, Curry, Bitter leaf (ewuro, shawaka onugbu), Thyme, Mustard, Tea bush (efirin, nchanwa, infang, amana), Sesame, African nutmeg, Cinnamom, Ginger, garlic, onion e.t.c.