In the wake of September being celebrated as National Nutrition Month, the Diet Counseling Cell of the Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Community Science, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organized an exhibition and counseling sessions to promote healthy eating habits and create awareness about importance of nutrition for good health for all. The programme was held under the designated theme “Suposhit Bharat, Sakshar Bharat, Sashakt Bharat.”
The exhibition focused on sustainable diets including seasonally and locally grown fruits and vegetables, whole grains, millets, legumes and reduced amount of animal-sourced foods, highly processed foods and sugary beverages, balanced meal for a day, food fads and fallacies, eating right on a budget, nutrition gardening and empowerment through culinary skills for entrepreneurship development. A large number of students participated in the event. The nutritional status of the students was assessed using Body Mass Index and dietary guidance was also provided accordingly.
Dr Kiranjot Sidhu, Dean, College of Community Science, appreciated the efforts of the faculty and students in creating awareness about making informed choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits. She further emphasized that such displays and interactive sessions help in educating people about the advantages of maintaining a balanced diet, the positive impact of adequate nutrition, ways to prevent diseases linked to poor dietary habits and strategies to overcome nutritional deficiencies.
Dr Kiran Grover, Head, Department of Food and Nutrition, observed that sustainable eating has gained importance for good reason. “This nutritional practice helps in address the problems with our food systems by consuming foods that are produced in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner. The small changes made to our eating habits can help the environment. We should choose locally produced and seasonal foods; eat more plant based foods; reduce food wastage through meal planning, using leftovers creatively, making the switch to whole, unprocessed and homemade foods, and using reusable containers, wrappers, bags for packing meals to reduce single use plastic,” she added.
Read more:https://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageEvent&DO=viewEventDetail&dataE=datae&intID=8043
