Expert advocates deployment of dieticians to PHCs

Expert advocates deployment of dieticians to PHCs
By Talatu Maiwada
Nutrition
Abuja, July 10, 2018 (NAN) Mrs Sarah Abagai, Head of Department, Dietetics, National Hospital, Abuja, has urged the governments at all levels to deploy dieticians to primary health facilities to enable rural dwellers access culturally relevant nutritional information.
Abagai, who is the author of the book “Basic Concepts of Healthy Nutrition, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
She said secretes of eating to live healthy are nutritional information which needs to be disseminated by dieticians at both primary and tertiary healthcare facilities to sanitise food habits of Nigerians.
However, Abagai noted that most trained dieticians were mainly at the urban centres and tertiary health facilities, adding that people at the grass root were deprived of nutritional education.
She said globally food has been recognised as the most important aspect of man’s lifestyle, a source that sustains or shortens life, hence the need for Nigerians to develop and practice healthy eating habits.
“I discovered a wide gap in the flow of nutritional information that Nigerians can relate to and it takes awareness for people to develop and practice healthy eating habits.
“Poor dietary habits can result in disease condition which develops slowly in the body without the realisation of the person.
“However, there is no information as critical as what will enable people live physically, mentally and emotionally energetic and healthy,’’ the expert said.
Abagai stressed that when diseases begin to manifest, people are compelled to imbibe healthy eating habits to treat and manage diseases.
She further enjoined Nigerians to acquire relevant nutritional information, adopt preventive measures and not to be compelled by diseases to eat right and live healthy. (NAN)
TIM/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola