Live class event :
Patricia Gunnarson, the Health teacher from the Furnace Brook Middle
School Marshfield, MA, volunteered her time to teach a class on
Nutrition & Health to help balance the Malawian Diet
The focus was to teach nutritional diversity to head of child headed
households in Malawi so they can understand the health benefits of
maintaining a balanced diet.
Malawi has lots of fish, fruits and vegetables which they can use to
maintain a daily balance diet of Protein, Vitamins and Minerals.
However, because of poverty and lack of nutritional education
undernourishment is common among the population, especially
amongst the orphans and vulnerable children.
Mrs. Gunnarson discussed the fact that the common Malawian diet
mainly consists of Nsima, or corn meal, which is an inexpensive staple
food served daily. Although this starchy food is filling it is not enough to
maintain good health if it is not supplemented with protein, vegetables
and fruits. In Malawi, a display of readily available foods were gathered
as Mrs. Gunnarson taught the way to combine these foods to achieve a
balanced diet. Beans are plentiful in Malawi and are an excellent source
of protein. They should be served with the nsima, a vegetable and a fruit
as often as possible. Proteins such as fish, meat and milk should be
used when available to diversify the diet.
Participants went away with a wealth of knowledge. Dietary information
is very important and balancing the diet of orphans will help them
concentrate in school and achieve better grades.
Canterio will continue to work with guardians of orphans and vulnerable
children to increase nutritional awareness and mitigate against
malnutrition and under nourishment.
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