Sierra Leone gets approved guidelines for healthy eating
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with theMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security , Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the Scaling-up Nutrition Secretariat on Tuesday, 11 November 2016 launched the Sierra Leone Food-Based Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Eating at the Miatta Conference Centre in Freetown.
Sierra Leone developed the Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) through the project, Mainstreaming Food and Nutrition Security and the Right to Food into the Smallholder Commercialization Programme with financial support from the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.
The FBDGs provide a framework for policy advice in planning nutritionally adequate, safe and affordable dietary practices. They are detailed and inclusive and take into account the dietary expectation, gender sensitivity and cultural sensitivity of Sierra Leone’s diverse communities.
Officially launching the FBDGs, the Vice President of Sierra Leone, Victor Bockarie Foh described the FBDGS as advocate for the consumption of diverse nutritious foods and a preventive strategy to health disorders.
“We need to diversify our food basket to address the rising incidences of diet related diseases such as overweight, obesity, diabetes and their related consequences. The beauty of the Dietary Guidelines is that, the foods being recommended are locally available and culturally acceptable”, he stated.
The Vice President entreated all Sierra Leoneans to avail themselves of the present opportunity to create and inculcate healthy eating habits.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, Sunil Saigal said, the launch of the FBDGs comes at a time when nutrition indicators in children under the age of five show that more than one in every four Sierra Leonean children under the age of five are stunted in their growth because of malnutrition.
“These figures plus other statistics describing the state of food security and nutrition at both global and national levels are deeply concerning. The United Nations system, therefore, is engaged in a number of activities to improve the situation at many different levels”, he revealed.
According to the FAO Representative, Ms Nyabenyi Tipo, Sierra Leone is the sixth country in Africa and the third in West Africa to develop the Food-Based Dietary Guidelines.
“This document is a good tool for nutrition education; it is promoting diet diversification in a safe and sustainable manner with respect to biodiversity and protection of environment. It discourages harmful cultural practices like taboos associated with forbidden food for pregnant women and children”, Tipo explained.
She expressed appreciations to partners for their commitment during the process of developing the FBDGs. She pledged the continued support of FAO to the Government of Sierra Leone to meet the targets of the Malabo Declaration by 2015 and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The Dietary Guidelines emphasizes and encourages all Sierra Leoneans to eat variety of food; eat either fish, poultry, meat, milk or eggs everyday; eat plenty of fruits and vegetables at every meals; eat rice, cassava or other whole grains such as roots or tubers as part of meals; eat beans, peas and lentils everyday; use oil in moderation and eat nuts and seeds; use iodised salt in moderation; use sugars in moderation; take at least 8 glasses of water daily, and be physically active.