NUTRITIONAL SURVEILLANCE AND

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF NUTRITION

BY GAUTAM G J
CONTENTS
Introduction
Nutritional surveillance and growth monitering
Nutritional status indicators
Social aspects of nutrition
i. Problem of malnutrition
ii. Ecology of malnutrition
iii. Preventive and social measures(at various levels)
INTRODUCTION
"Keeping watch over nutrition, in order to make
decisions that will lead to improvement in nutrition in
population"
Surveillance system objectives:
a) Long term planning- health, development
b) Input- planning & management
c) Warning & intervention- short term food
consumption crisis.
Nutritional surveillance and growth monitering
Nutritional surveillance and growth monitering
Nutritional status indicators
Social aspects of nutrition
Food means not only proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and
other nutrients - but much more
i. PROBLEM OF MALNUTRITION:
"a pathological state resulting from a relative or absolute
deficiency or excess of one or more essential nutrients“
Four main terms:
a) Undernutrition
b) Overnutrition
c) Imbalance
d) Specific deficiency
Social aspects of nutrition
ii. Ecology of malnutrition:
1)Conditioning influences:
-infectious diseases malnutrition- interrelationship
2)Cultural influences:
a)Food habits, customs, beliefs, traditions, attitudes:
b)Religion
c)Food fads
d)Cooking practices
e)Child rearing practices
f)Miscellaneous
Social aspects of nutrition
ii. Ecology of malnutrition:
3)Socio-economic factors:
-Poverty, ignorance, improper sanitation, population
growth…
4)Food production:
-Uneven distribution.
5)Health and other services:
a)Nutritional surveillance
b)Nutritional rehabilitation
c)Nutritional supplementation
d)Health education
Preventive and social measures
Simultaneous action at various levels(family,
community, national, international)
Multi-sectoral coordinated approach.
Preventive and social measures
A) Action at family level:
• Nutrition education by community health workers
and multi-purpose workers to mainly wife and
husband.
• Nutrition education considerable impact on
promotion of breast feeding & infant, child feeding &
health.
• Adequate nutrition- combination of locally available
and acceptable foods.
Preventive and social measures
B) Action at community level:
 Analysis of nutrition problem
 Diet and nutrition surveys
 Approaches to control problem based on local
resources
 Applied Nutrition Programme
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
programme
Preventive and social measures
c) Action at the national level:
1. Rural development
2. Increasing agricultural production
3. Stabilization of population
4. Nutrition intervention programmes
5. Nutrition related health activities
Preventive and social measures
d) Action at the international level:
 Food and nutrition- inter related to health & sickness.
 World Food Programme- 1963
 Other agencies combating malnutrition are FAO,
UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UNDP, & CARE in co-
ordination with various national governments.
Thank you!