Food is important for life. To be healthy and active, we should certainly have enough food. But the foods we eat should also be safe and rich in all the nutrients our body needs. We should choose from a wide variety of foods and we should eat them regularly, throughout the day, every day of the year. Do not forget that we should also enjoy the food that we eat; it should look, smell and taste good. Without good nutrition, children and young people cannot develop their potential to the full, and adults will have difficulty in doing their best.
Food provides our bodies with what they need to:
stay alive, be active, move and work;
build new cells and tissues for growth;
stay healthy and heal themselves;
prevent and fight infections.
This section of your Handbook provides 9 activities that can be used to help your Youth Club members to learn about the basic functions of foods and the importance of getting enough of all the nutrients in a person's diet.
Notes
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Project skill: |
To understand the 4 different Food Groups and their functions in the body |
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Life skills: |
Recognising self-worth |
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Food Guide Posters |
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Preparation: |
Make your Workpad poster by taking one sheet of your Workpad and writing "Functions of Food" across the top of the page with your marker. Then underneath this, write down the KEY WORDS as shown on the right: |
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Functions of Food
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If you think it is a good idea, rather write these key words in your own language, so that group members may understand them better.
You may make your poster more attractive by drawing pictures or cutting them from magazines to best show these key words and glue them next to each point. For instance, you may have a picture of a smiling mouth to show healthy teeth, or draw a picture of someone running or playing soccer to show energy.
Save this Workpad poster to use again when doing this activity with other youth groups.
Food Group Cards. Take 4 pieces of paper or cardboard
and using your marker, write the name of each food group on a different piece:
1. Cereals, 2. Fruit and Vegetables, 3. Meat, Fish, Milk and Beans, 4. Fats and
Sugars
Save these in your Kit to use again.
Introduction
1. Explain to your group members that in this Activity everyone will learn to understand the 4 different Food Groups and why a variety of foods are needed by the body.
Experience
2. Display the Food Guide poster and ask everyone to sit where they can all see it clearly.
3. Explain that, even though they may not think so, all the group members already have knowledge about why food is so important for our bodies. This knowledge has come from their family members, (parents, grandparents, other relatives) as well as what they have learned in school.
4. Encourage your participants to remember and share what they have learned by naming the things that foods do for the body. Answers to expect are:
Growth and development
Develop strong muscles, bones and teeth;
Keep our bodies warm and give us energy;
Keep our bodies healthy by helping our immune systems to prevent or fight disease;
Repair or healing of injuries.
Helps our brains to grow and function properly
Development and proper working of our organs: heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, etc.
5. Point to the picture on the Food Guide poster and explain that all foods fall into these 4 basic groups. Ask if anyone can name these, which are: 1. Cereals, 2. Fruit and Vegetables, 3. Meat, Fish, Milk and Beans, 4. Fats and Sugars
Process
6. Put up your Workpad poster next to the Food Guide poster.
7. Ask your participants to form 4 groups and give each group one of the Food Group cards.
8. Explain that each group has 5 minutes to think about the list of KEYWORDS on your Workpad poster, discuss among themselves and then tell the other groups which of the functions of food on the body are given by the Food Group on their Food Group card.
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It is important that everyone should understand that group members should not be interrupted or corrected by the others, but let everyone finish their explanations. |
Apply
9. When everyone has finished, have them all come together again as one large group.
10. Have your participants look at the Food Guide Poster again. Explain that:
the biggest group, Grains, contains the nutrients which provide energy and warm our bodies and should be eaten in larger quantities;
Fruit and vegetables provide many vitamins and minerals to help our immune systems;
Proteins from meat, dairy foods, seeds, nuts, etc help to build our
muscles;
Fats and sugars are concentrated sources of energy, so should be eaten in much smaller quantities. Fats and oils especially give a lot of energy (more than double that of sugars). For those people who need more energy (for instance, if they are undernourished or are doing heavy physical work) fats, oils and sugar can be useful sources of energy.
However, for people who are already overweight (fat) too much fat, oil and sugar can make their situation worse and lead to serious overweight, which is not only uncomfortable, but makes a person less active and affects the heart and blood circulation.
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Project skill: |
To understand why a variety of different foods from the 4 Food Groups foods are needed by the body. |
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Life skills: |
Recognising self-worth |
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Food Guide Posters |
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Preparation: |
This preparation should be discussed and explained at the end of the meeting for the previous activity. |
Divide your participants into pairs or small groups of 3 or 4 people. Explain that in preparation for this activity, they should work together to name traditional and veld foods and try to list each food into the Food Group to which it belongs.
Introduction
1. Explain to your group members that in this Activity everyone will build on what they have already learned about the functions of food in order to understand why a variety of foods from the 4 Food Groups are needed by the body.
Experience
2. Display the Food Guide poster and ask everyone to sit where they can all see it clearly.
3. Divide your group members into 4 smaller groups and give each group one of the Food Group Cards that you made for the previous activity.
4. Explain that the groups have about 5 minutes to think about and remember what they learned in that activity about the Functions of the 4 Food Groups, and that each group will be asked to present the function of their Food Group to the rest of the group members.
5. When the groups are ready, let somebody from each group have a turn to tell everybody what their Food Group is and explain the functions of this Food Group.
6. Before moving on to the next step, make sure that the information presented is understood properly by reading out the information given in Step 10 of the last activity.
7. Point out the guideline: "Eat a Variety of Foods"
on the Food Guide poster and ask someone from among your group
members:
"Can you explain why these 4 main Food Groups are important for so
many things?"
8. After the first person has had a chance to give their explanation, encourage the group to discuss the question and give their responses.
Responses to expect are:
These 4 Groups contain many different things call nutrients, and each nutrient has a different job within the body.
Some nutrients need to be combined with other ones before they can work properly.
Some foods contain a few different nutrients and not all foods contain the same ones. This is why it is important for us to eat a variety of different foods from all 4 Food Groups, to make sure that our bodies get the right kinds of nourishment to help them to work properly.
Listen to the explanations and help the person by correcting or explaining points which they have not understood.
Process
9. Ask the pairs or teams to now take turns to describe their lists of traditional and veld foods to the rest of the group members and explain which Food Group to which each food belongs.
Encourage the presenters to refer to the Food Guide picture on the Poster if they think this will help them to get their explanations right.
10. Let everyone discuss the presentations and encourage all group members to think about how their traditional or local foods can help to ensure that someone gets enough of a variety of foods from the 4 Food Groups.
Explain that everyone will learn more about planning to use Traditional and local foods for Healthy Eating in later Activities.
Apply
11. End the activity with a discussion about sharing knowledge. Encourage the discussion by asking questions such as:
Do you think it is important that people are encouraged to discover their own knowledge (for example, what they have learned at school or elsewhere about the Food Groups and the need for a variety of foods)?
How do you think you have benefited by from this activity?
Do you think that sharing knowledge and working together is a good way to help others?
Why do you think so?
What problems did you have with learning in this way and how do you think they can be solved?
What have you learned from this activity?
Other activities
Try to encourage suggestions for other activities which may help your Youth Club members to understand the Food Groups, their functions and the need to eat a variety of foods.
For example, they may enjoy working together to make posters showing foods from the 4 Food Groups and what they do for the body. Posters such as the one on the next page can be made from a piece of flat box cardboard with drawings and magazine pictures glued on it. Foods such as noodles, rice and seeds, as well as food labels from tins, packets or boxes can also be glued onto the poster to make it attractive.
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Remember to tell your group members that when they use old food containers or other pieces of rubbish for making artwork, they should ALWAYS make sure that these items are properly cleaned before working with them. |
Notes
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Project skill: |
Solving a word puzzle to remember the words and foods of the 4 Food Groups. |
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Life skills: |
Communicating |
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Pencils |
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Preparation: |
Ask everyone to bring pencils for use in this activity. |
Make enough copies of the Find the Foods Handout so that each group may have one.
Introduction
1. Explain that group members will solve a word puzzle to remember the words and foods in the 4 Food Groups.
Experience
2. Ask the youth to form small groups of 2 or 3, depending on how many copies of the Find the Foods handout you have.
3. Hold up a copy of Find the Foods handout and read aloud the two paragraphs above the puzzle. Show them one example of how the words can be found in the puzzle (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) by drawing a line around it.
4. Give a copy of the Find the Foods handout to each group. If you think it might be helpful, explain the directions again and ask if they have any questions.
Process
5. Let everyone go ahead and find the hidden words, drawing a line around each word.
6. Move among the groups and help any that are having difficulty understanding what they should do, but do not solve the puzzle for them.
The completed Food Search puzzle should look like the example shown on the right
7. When all the groups have completed the activity, ask everyone to come together again as a whole group.
Apply
8. Guide a discussion by asking the following questions:
What did you learn from this activity?
Describe how you communicated with each other as you did this activity.
Could you have improved the way you communicated?
How can you use what you have learned from this activity?
Handout: Find the Foods
This activity is to learn some nutrition vocabulary words in a fun and easy way. The activity also helps us to learn how to communicate with others in a team as we work to solve the puzzle.
Directions: The 4 Food Groups are very important for our bodies to grow and function properly. The names of those Food Groups and some foods are listed below the puzzle, and these have been hidden in the puzzle. Work together in your groups to find those 9 words. The words can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal. When you find a word, draw a line around it.
Draw a line around each of the following words in the squares above:
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VEGETABLES |
FATS |
CEREALS |
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MAHANGU |
BEANS |
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FISH |
FRUIT |
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MILK |
SUGARS |
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Notes
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Project skills: |
Remembering what was learned in previous activities |
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Life skills: |
Acquiring knowledge. |
Introduction
1. Explain to your group members that in this activity they will remember what they have learned in previous activities and use this knowledge to create songs and dances about food groups and their functions.
Experience
2. Ask your group members to form groups of 3 - 6 people.
3. Explain that each group should create a song and dance which would help others to learn about the food groups and their functions.
4. Let the groups find a quiet place, where the other groups can't hear them, to create a song and practice it with their dance.
Give the groups about 15 minutes to practice.
5. Ask the groups to come back and let each group have a turn to perform their song and dance for the others. How can you use what you have learned from this activity?
Process
6. Let everyone come together to form one large group.
7. Lead a discussion about the performances by asking the following questions:
Was it difficult or easy for you to make a song and dance about food groups and their functions?
Did you remember the information you learned about these topics?
What information did you choose to use in your song and which information did you leave out? Why?
What did you learn from that activity?
How did creating a song and dance help you learn about nutrition?
Apply
8. End the activity with a discussion about using these songs and dances at a community or public meeting to help others to learn about nutrition and the 4 Food Groups. Ask questions to guide this discussion.
What examples do you know of ways in which songs and dances tell people messages?
(Radio and TV advertising, community theatre for HIV/AIDS, etc)
How could our songs and dances help our community?
Where does our community have public meetings so that we could ask to show what we have learned during the meeting?
Who would be good to ask to learn about such meetings?
Would it be a good idea to sing our songs after church on Sunday?
Should we talk to the pastor or church elders?
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Project skill: |
Understanding the functions of some important nutrients in the body and learning about their food sources. |
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Life skill: |
Acquiring knowledge. |
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Copies of the Basic Facts about Nutrients
Handout. |
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Preparation: |
Find at least 2 actual examples or pictures of a good food source of each nutrient listed on the form. If possible, include examples of foods that are grown locally or found in the veld or bush. Place the foods and/or pictures on a surface or table so that the group can see them. |
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Functions of Food
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Make copies of the Basic Facts Handout.
Make sure
you have read and understand this Handout before you present this
activity.
If it was not possible to make enough copies of the Basic Facts Handout for everyone to have a copy, then read the information out slowly, point by point, and let everyone write the information in their note books at then end of the activity.
Introduction
1. Put up your Workpad Poster from Activity 1.1 and read out the points for the "Functions of Food".
Explain to your group members that this activity is to help them to understand the functions of some important nutrients the body and learning about their food sources.
Experience
2. Tell your group members that they are going to start this activity by playing a warm-up game about the functions of nutrients in protecting the body.
3. Ask everyone to form into 3 groups:
Group A: Germs Make People Sick
This group should plan ways to make a lot of noise and "attack" group B during the game.
Group B: Healthy People
Ask this group to think of ways to show that they are happy, healthy and relaxed, when group A tries to attack them during the game.
Group C: Protective Nutrients
This group needs to think about how, as important nutrients, they will protect group B from the attack by group A.
4. Give the Groups a chance to practice and then let them play the game for 5 - 10 minutes.
5. Ask the group everyone to discuss and explain what they think they understood from the game about how nutrients can fight disease and keep our bodies healthy.
6. Remind everyone that, although nutrients protect the body, this is not their only function. Explain that it is important for our bodies get the right nutrients to make sure that ALL their functions in the body are provided for.
Process
7. Let everyone come together in one large group and give out copies of the Basic Facts about Nutrients Handout.
8. Read through the Handout, carefully going through the information on each nutrient. As you go through the Handout, encourage your group members to think about and discuss the information by asking questions, such as:
Does anyone know why protein is important to the body?
What foods are good sources of vitamin A?
Do you know of wild veld foods that might be good sources of iron?
9. As you talk about the sources of each nutrient, hold up the examples or pictures of food sources that you have collected for that nutrient. Keep encouraging group members to share whatever they know about the nutrient functions and food sources.
10. Explain that Vitamin A, niacin, iodine and iron are being emphasised because many Namibians do not get enough of these vitamins and minerals; therefore many are suffering from malnutrition and even deficiency diseases (a 'deficiency disease' is not caused by a germ, but happens when the body does not get enough of a certain nutrient).
Apply
9. End this activity with a discussion on what your group members have learned. Lead the discussion by asking the following questions:
Did you know most of these facts before we began this activity?
Did any of these facts surprise you?
What did you learn from playing the game?
How do you think that playing such games helps with learning? Why?
Can you think of better ideas for learning games?
Why is it important to learn these basic facts about nutrients?
What could happen if people don't know these basic facts?
How will you use your new knowledge about the nutrients needed by our bodies?
What happens to the body if we do not eat enough vitamins and minerals?
What do you think is the general function of Vitamins in our body?
What is the function of Iron in the body?
What local foods are good sources of iron?
What happens to your body if you do not eat enough Iron?
10. Explain that everyone will be using these Handouts in future activities, and that the information is very important. If there are some people who have difficulty reading their Handouts, let them ask a friend or family member to help them to read the information again and to help them to understand it before future activities.
Handout: Basic Facts about Nutrients
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Nutrient |
Functions |
Good Sources |
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Protein |
Helps us to grow, develop and repair muscles and tissues. Some protein foods such as milk and eggs give us strong bones and teeth. |
Marula nuts, eefulwa, ground nuts, pumpkin or !nara seeds, mopane worms, beef, pork, goat, fish, chicken, eggs, dried beans, peas, mielies and lentils, cheese, omaere and yoghurt. |
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Carbohydrates |
Provide energy for the body. There are three kinds of carbohydrates: sugar, starch, and fibre. |
Mahangu, sorghum, brown bread, rice, macaroni and other noodles, mieliemeal, sugar, honey. |
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Fats |
Provide energy for the body and carry certain vitamins through the body. |
Marula nut, ground nut, butter, margarine, cooking oil, seeds. |
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Vitamin A |
Needed for healthy eyesight and to prevent night blindness, (xerophtalmia). |
Egg yolks, liver, butter, omaere, yoghurt. Deep yellow or orange fruits and vegetables, dark green vegetables: ombidi, pumpkin, butternut, carrots, spinach, rape, broccoli, pawpaw. |
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Iodine |
Iodine is for the thyroid gland (in the neck area), which regulates growth and many body functions. A lack of iodine can lead to an enlargement of the thyroid gland called a goitre. |
Iodised salt, seafood and foods which are grown in soil that contains iodine. |
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Iron |
Iron helps the body to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body. A lack of iron can lead to the disease called anaemia. |
Mopane worms, beef, goat, pork, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach and ombidi, brown bread, beans. |
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Niacin |
Helps the body to get energy from other nutrients and helps keep the skin and nervous system healthy. A lack of niacin leads to pellagra. |
Whole grain cereals, meats and seeds: Brown bread, groundnuts, pumpkin and !nara seeds, sorghum, mahangu, meat, and chicken. |
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Water |
Water carries nutrients in the body and waste products from the cells and helps control body temperature. When the body does not have enough water, this can cause dehydration (drying out) |
Water, milk, fruit juice, soups, tea and vegetables with high water content such as lettuce, apples and potatoes. |
Not all of the vitamins and minerals needed by the body have been mentioned in this list. The ones given here have special mention because many Namibians do not always get enough of these in their diets.
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Project skill: |
Learning about why it is important for everyone to get enough Vitamin A |
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Life skills: |
Acquiring knowledge |
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Basic Facts about Nutrients Handouts from the previous Activity |
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Preparation: |
Make enough copies of the Vitamin A Handout for everyone in the group. |
Make sure you have read and understand the Vitamin A Handout before you present this activity.
Remind everyone to bring their Basic Facts about Nutrition Handouts from the previous Activity, and ask them to make sure that they try to read through and remember the information on Vitamin A from that Handout.
Introduction
1. Explain to your group members that this Activity is for everyone to learn more about why it is important for everyone to get enough Vitamin A.
Experience
2. Let your group members review what they learned about Vitamin A in the last Activity by asking the following questions:
What are the functions of Vitamin A?
What are the food sources of Vitamin A?
Process
3. Give out the Vitamin A Handouts for this Activity.
4. Ask someone to read the information on the Handout to the rest of the members.
If there is difficulty with finding someone who can or wants to read, then you as Leader should read this out to everyone.
Make sure that everyone in the group understands the facts about Vitamin A before going to the next step.
Apply
5. Let the youth members have a discussion around the following questions:
Is there enough of a variety of food sources of Vitamin A available in our community?
Are there enough different local food sources to provide Vitamin A through the year? Name these sources and in what season they are available.
What can we do to avoid getting Vitamin A Deficiency?
(Eat Vitamin A-rich foods and take children to the clinic to receive Vitamin A capsules).
Why should we avoid getting Vitamin A deficiency?
(Blindness, poor eyesight and eye problems prevent children from learning, cause accidents and make it difficult for a person to work and earn a living. Having a lot of infections affects our health and makes it hard to work. Dry skin can be painful and give germs a place to cause infections).
6. End this Activity by asking these questions:
What have you learned from this Activity?
Do you think that you can use the knowledge you gained in this activity to help members of your family and community?
How would you do this?
Do you think that there is enough information available for communities to learn about and understand the importance of Vitamin A? If "Yes", explain. If "No" what do you think can be done?
These are some good food sources of Vitamin A
Information for this Activity and Handout © Government of Namibia: "Prevention, Control & Treatment of Vitamin A Deficiency: Policy Guidelines for Health Workers", Ministry of Health and Social Services
Handout: Vitamin A
Who needs Vitamin A?
Everybody needs Vitamin A.
Women who breastfeed especially need Vitamin A to help them to stay healthy and to pass on Vitamin A to their children through breastmilk.
Young children need Vitamin A to help them to grow, develop normally and stay healthy.
Vitamin A helps our health in many ways:
It helps our bodies to fight many infections or diseases such as diarrhoea, measles, colds, coughs and malaria.
When young children receive the Vitamin A that they need, they have a better chance to survive an infection.
Young children have a special need for Vitamin A, because they are growing rapidly. Pregnant women need Vitamin A to help the growth of their unborn child.
Vitamin A is important for the eyes, because it protects them and keeps them strong.
Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD):
All the Vitamin A that we need must come from what we eat. The body can store extra Vitamin A so that there is a reserve for times of need. When the store of Vitamin A in the body is low, and we do not eat enough food sources, that is when we have Vitamin A deficiency.
This deficiency can also be caused when we have diarrhoea or poor nutrition with not enough food sources of Vitamin A in the diet.
When there is Vitamin A deficiency, many infections are more serious. Children can get more serious sicknesses and some can even die.
Vitamin A deficiency will make it hard for a person to see in poor light or at night, or even make the person blind.
It is important to avoid VAD by eating foods that are rich in Vitamin A and to make sure to take children to the clinic to receive Vitamin A capsules.
Vitamin A supplements:
Young children and women who do not eat enough foods that have Vitamin A can be given the vitamin like medicine. This is called Vitamin A Supplementation.
Who is most at risk of VAD?
Babies who are not breastfed, babies and children up to 5 years of age and pregnant or breastfeeding women are most at risk of VAD.
Children with measles, diarrhoea and malnutrition are especially at risk of VAD.
There are two 2 kinds of food sources of Vitamin A:
1. Animal: liver, egg yolks, whole milk, animal butter and whole small fish. These sources are better because their Vitamin A is easily absorbed by the body.
2. Vegetable: orange or dark yellow fruits and vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, marula fruit, mango and pawpaw) dark green leafy vegetables.
Breastmilk is also very rich in Vitamin A, especially the first milk (colostrum).
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Project skill: |
Learning about why it is important for everyone to get enough Iodine in the diet |
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Life skills: |
Acquiring knowledge |
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Basic Facts about Nutrients Handouts from Activity
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If possible, also try to get some other salt which is NOT Iodised, either from a shop or if you have a salt pan somewhere in your area.
A teaspoon & and a saucer or clean plastic bottle lid (2 lids if you can get 2 kinds of salt)
A needle or pin for opening Iodine test containers.
Preparation: Get the materials needed for this activity.
Go to the clinic and try to get enough copies of the Iodine for better Health pamphlet for everyone in the group OR make copies of the Iodine Handout supplied with this activity.
If these are difficult to get, then make sure that everyone gives your Kit copies back after the Activity so that you can use them again when doing this Activity with other groups.
Remind everyone to bring their Basic Facts about Nutrients Handouts from Activity 1.4, and ask them to make sure that they try to read through and remember the information on Iodine from that Handout.
Introduction
1. Explain to your group that in this Activity, they will learn about why it is important that everyone gets enough Iodine in the diet
Experience
2. Let your group members explain what they already may know about why Iodine is important. If you have already conducted Activity 1.5: Basic Facts about Nutrients, encourage everyone to explain what they learned about Iodine in that activity. Help these explanations by asking the following questions:
Iodine is important for the functions of what gland in the body?
What are the food sources of Iodine?
Process
3. Give out the Iodine for Better Health pamphlets for this Activity. If you do not have enough for everybody, let members form small groups so that they may share the copies from your Kit.
4. Ask someone from the group to read the information in the pamphlet to the rest of the members.
If there is difficulty with finding someone who can or wants to read, then you as Leader should read this out to everyone.
5. Make sure that everyone in the group understands the facts about Iodine in the pamphlet before going to the next step.
Iodine Testing
6. Ask everyone to gather around so that they can see the testing clearly.
7. Place 2 teaspoonfuls of Iodised Salt into the plastic lid or container. Spread it flat.
If you also managed to get some Uniodised salt, put 2 teaspoonfuls of that into the second plastic lid or container.
Take one of the small plastic bottles (ampoules) of testing fluid from the Iodine Testing Kit.
Shake the bottle or ampoule well before you use it.
Open the seal of the bottle (ampoule) by pushing the needle or pin into it.
Carefully squeeze the bottle until one drop of testing fluid falls onto the salt.
If you have Uniodised salt, do the same to this.
8. Look on the side of the Iodine Testing Kit box and you will see a row of dots and numbers that looks like this:
9. Pass the Iodine Testing Kit box around so that all the group members can see the row of dots. Explain to everyone that:
The colour of the first, white dot (0) means that the salt would have no iodine in it
The second, pale (25) shows that the salt has some iodine in it, but not enough
The middle, darker blue dot (50) has the right amount of iodine in it. The Namibian Government has made a law that all salt for human consumption must be iodised and should have 50 parts of iodine per million.
The 2 very dark dots (75 and 100) have a very large amount of iodine.
10. Explain to your members that this way of testing is used by healthworkers and other professionals to see if the salt which people eat has enough iodine.
11. Now let everyone look at the salt which you have tested to see what colour it has become and if it has enough iodine in it.
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Always close the bottle and Iodine Testing Kit box well after use and keep it stored in your kit bag to keep it cool. This way it will last longer. |
Apply
12. Let the group members refer to their pamphlets or Handouts and have a discussion around the following questions:
Who needs iodine?
What is the function of iodine in the body?
Do you know someone in your family or community who has goitre?
There are not enough food sources of Iodine in Namibia, so what should people do to make sure they get enough iodine?
What happens if people have Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD)?
When should Iodised Salt be added to food?
How should Iodised Salt be stored?
13. End this Activity by asking these questions:
What have you learned from this Activity?
Do you think that you can use this knowledge to help members of your family and community?
How would you do this?
Make sure to eat only Iodised Salt, but avoid eating too much salt.
Picture adapted from Food & Nutrition Guidelines for Namibia, courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Social Services
Information for this Activity and Handout © Government of Namibia: "Iodine for Better Health", Ministry of Health and Social Services
Notes
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Handout: Iodine for Better Health
What is iodine?
Iodine is a mineral that is very important for the production of hormones. These hormones control the normal growth and development of the body.
Where is iodine found?
Iodine is mainly found in sea water, soil and sea products such as fish.
Who needs iodine?
Everybody needs iodine.
Why does everybody need iodine?
Lack of iodine in food causes a group of disorders that we call Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD).
1. Lack of iodine can lead to:
goitre (swelling of the neck gland)
2. In pregnant women, lack of iodine can lead to:
Improper development of the baby
Miscarriages (losing the baby before it is developed and ready to be born)
Stillbirths (babies born dead)
3. In children, lack of iodine can lead to:
Mental retardation
Failing to grow properly
Poor progress at school
4. In adults, lack of iodine can lead to:
Infertility
Impotence in men
Heart failure
Loss of sensation in legs
How can we prevent iodine deficiency disorders?
We can prevent iodine deficiency disorders by using only iodised salt. Namibia's soil and water are poor in iodine and do not always supply enough for our needs. That is why Namibia produces and imports its own iodised salt.
How should we use and store iodised salt?
Remember:
Iodine dissolves easily in liquids
Iodine evaporates easily
Iodine is destroyed easily by heat and during cooking
Storage:
Always keep iodised salt in a closed and dry container, so that the iodine in the salt will be preserved.
Usage:
Add iodised salt to food on the table or when it is nearly cooked to avoid destroying the iodine.
Information provided by the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Namibia
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Project skill: |
Solving a crossword puzzle to use knowledge about nutrients learned in previous activities. |
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Life skills: |
Recognising self-worth |
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Pencils. |
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Preparation: |
Make enough copies of the Nutrition Crossword Puzzle so that each group may have one. |
Ask everyone to bring pencils for use in this activity.
Introduction
1. Explain to everyone that in this activity they will use knowledge they have learned in previous activities to solve a crossword puzzle by using knowledge about nutrients.
Experience
2. Have your group members form themselves into smaller groups of 3 - 4 people.
If there are some people who have difficulty with reading and writing, try to make sure that each small group has a least one member who has enough skills to be able to help the others.
3. Give a copy of the Nutrition Crossword Puzzle to each group.
Explain that the numbers in the squares of the crossword puzzle match with the numbered clues that are listed for the Across and Down words.
If you think it would be helpful, read clue number 1 and ask the participants what they think the word is. When they have identified the correct word, show them how to fill in the squares if they haven't done a crossword puzzle before, but do not give them any more answers.
Process
4. Ask the groups to continue with the puzzle until it is completed.
Move among the groups, helping those who might be having difficulty.
Apply
5. When everyone has completed the puzzle, ask the following discussion questions:
What did you learn from this activity?
Did the activity help you to remember more about the basic nutrients?
Were there any words you had difficulty thinking of?
Were some words easy for you to think of?
Why do you think some words are easy to think of and other words are harder to think of?
How can you use what you learned from doing this crossword puzzle?
Answers to the puzzle
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Across: |
2 = goitre; 3 = thyroid; 5 = iodine; 6 = Namibia; 12 = water;
8 = eyes; |
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Down: |
1 = fats; 2 = green; 4 = iron; 7 = marula; 9 = nuts; 10 =
mopani; |
Handout: Crossword Puzzle
Across
2. A deficiency disease caused by a lack of iodine.
3. An enlargement of the _____ gland is caused by iodine deficiency.
5. Iodised salt is a good source of ____.
6. Sorghum is a good source of carbohydrates in which country?
8. Vitamin A helps keep the ____to stay healthy.
12. The nutrient needed to control body temperature.
14. Most meats and beans are a good source of this nutrient.
15. A good source of carbohydrates.
Down
1. The body needs _____ to provide energy for the body and carry certain vitamins through the body.
2. Dark _____ vegetables are a good source of Vitamin A.
4. _____ helps the body to make red blood cells to carry oxygen from the lungs to cells throughout the body.
7. A good source of protein is the _____ nut.
9. _____ are good sources of protein and fats.
10. _____ worms are a good source of protein and iron.
13. Carbohydrates are the body's most important source of _____.
16. A deficiency disease caused by a lack of iron in the blood.
17. A lack of this nutrient leads to the disease called pellagra
This activity will take 2 group meetings to complete.
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Project skill: |
Compare the food and nutrition practices in Namibia today with the practices in the past. |
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Life skills: |
Acquiring knowledge. |
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Paper and pencils for group members to write their interview questions. |
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Preparation: |
Tell all the group members that they will need to bring paper and pencils for this activity. |
Introduction
1. Explain to your group members that in this activity they will compare the food and nutrition practices in Namibia today with the practices in the past.
Experience
2. Tell everybody that this activity will give them a chance to learn about what the food and nutrition situation was like in Namibia 20, 30 or maybe even 40 years ago.
Explain that once they learn about the past, group members will be able to compare it with how things are today.
They can expect to learn:
what is the same,
what is different and
why these similarities and differences might exist.
3. Ask each person to think of an elderly person living in the area. The person could be a relative, neighbour or even someone the young person does not know very well.
Explain that group members should work in pairs and will ask the elders if they may interview them about the food and nutrition situation when they (the elderly person) were young.
4. Lead a discussion for the group members to develop ideas for how to explain to the elders the reasons for wanting to talk to them. Important points to remember are:
They should introduce themselves politely.
The interviewers should explain to the older person what they are doing and why they need this food and nutrition information. It is very important that the elder person understands what is needed and trusts the young people who are doing the interview.
The interviewers should ask permission to write down the information and explain that this is necessary to help them to remember the information correctly.
It is important to thank the elders for sharing some of their knowledge and history.
5. Help your group members to develop the questions that should be asked in the interview. Some examples are:
Where did you live as a young child? As a young adult?
When you were a young child, what foods did you eat most often?
When you were a child, did your family grow a garden? If so, what did it grow?
Was there more food available to you than now? Less? Why do you think that was so?
Were there any times when you were very hungry because you did not have enough food? Tell me/us more about this.
Please tell me what you usually eat and drink during a day.
How does this differ from what you usually ate and drank when you were younger?
Do you think the food situation in Namibia is better now than it was in the past? If so, how? Or, how is it worse?
Do you think people were healthier in the past than they are now? If so, why? Or, how are they healthier now?
What do you think are some reasons why the food situation has changed over the past years - if it has changed?
What changes would you like to see in what Namibians are eating now?
If your group members think it would be appropriate, have them ask the elderly people how old they are.
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Encourage group members to develop their own questions and explain that it is better to plan their questions in ways that do not suggest to the people they are interviewing that some answers are better than others. Explain that this is because it is important to learn from what our elders have to say, so in this activity there are no "right" or "wrong" answers, just interesting ones. |
Process
6. Have your group members divide into pairs and give them 10 minutes to practice a 5 minute Role Play of a young person interviewing an elderly person.
7. After each Role Play has been presented, ask everyone to describe what went well in the interview and what could be improved.
Ask if they feel they want to do more Role Playing before they do their actual interviews.
8. Explain that each pair of members will be asked to report on his or her interview at the next group meeting.
Apply
After the interviews
9. At the next meeting, let each pair of group members work through their interview, one question at a time, and ask members to report what they learned from the elders.
10. To end this activity, ask the following questions to summarise and apply what was learned:
What are the main or most important things we learned from our interviews about food and nutrition today and in the past?
What did you learn about conducting interviews?
If you could do the interview again, what would you do the same? What would you do differently?
How does the current food and nutrition situation in Namibia compare with the situation in times past? What is the same? What is different?
What do you think are these reasons for these similarities and differences?
Overall, do you think the current situation is better or worse than it was in the past?
Did you learn any ideas about how we could improve our current food and nutrition situation? What could we do?
Would you like to use your interviewing skills to interview other people about certain topics? If so, what topics? What types of people would you interview about each of those topics? What would you want to learn from these interviews?
Notes
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