Newsletter 02 2006.pdf - Sight and Life

SIGHT AND LIFE 52
NEWSLETTER 2/2006
tion trials. It provides a synopsis
of the latest research on obesity,
investigating all major lines of
evidence, and clarifies common
misconceptions while identifying
which behaviors to target and
which dietary factors show the
most promise for prevention.
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis,
New York,
http://taylorandfrancis.com
Setting up and running a
school garden
Adequate nutrition and education
are key to the development of children
and their future livelihoods.
The reality facing millions of children,
however, is that these essentials
are far from being met.
A country’s future hinges on its
youth. Yet children who go to
school hungry cannot learn well.
They have decreased physical
activity, diminished cognitive abilities
and reduced resistance to
infections. Their school performance
is often poor and they may
drop out of school early. In the
long term, chronic malnutrition
decreases individual potential
and has adverse affects on productivity,
incomes and national
development.
Schools can make an important
contribution to countries’ efforts
to overcome hunger and malnutrition,
and school gardens can
help to improve the nutrition and
education of children and their
families in both rural and urban
areas.
FAO promotes school gardens
primarily as a platform for learning,
as well as a vehicle for better
nutrition. Schools are encouraged
to create learning gardens that are
moderate in size so that they can
be easily managed by students,
teachers and parents, but that
also allow for the production of
a variety of nutritious vegetables
and fruits (and where possible,
some small-scale livestock such
as chickens or rabbits). Production
methods are kept simple so
that they can be easily replicated
by students and parents at their
homes.
In preparing this manual, intended
to assist school teachers, parents
and the wider community, FAO
has drawn upon experiences
and best practices derived from
school garden initiatives all over
the world. Classroom lessons are
linked with practical learning in
the garden about nature and the
environment, food production
and marketing, food processing
and preparation, and making
healthy food choices.
Setting up and running a school
garden: FAO, Via Delle Terme di
Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
Community Nutrition
A new CD-ROM intended as a
teaching material resource has
just been produced by Teaching-aids
At Low Cost (TALC), a
UK-based group, with financial
support by UNICEF. It contains
materials from many sources
around the world. Each item
(mostly produced between the
years 2000 and 2005) is presented
with a short explanation about
its use. All contributors are listed
with their contact details. Among
many others, the SIGHT AND
LIFE CD was useful as a resource
and several SIGHT AND LIFE
publications, Newsletter articles
and slides are included.
The introduction states: “This CD-
ROM ... is intended for you if you
work with resources-poor communities
and are training health
and other types of development
workers and have limited access
to nutrition-related materials,
particularly if you do not have
access to the Internet... Nutrition
is a fast-changing world – most
of us have very heavy workloads
and it is difficult to keep updated
with recent developments.”
Ann Burgess, a nutrition consultant
who worked intensively on
this project, commented that the
contribution from SIGHT AND
LIFE was very useful. At this time
5000 copies are being produced.
For distribution, the priority is to
get copies to target users such
as health practitioners and development
workers in developing
countries and their trainers who
have limited access to nutrition
materials.
To request a copy of the CD please
contact TALC at info@talcuk.org
or visit the TALC website http://
www.talcuk.org, which also gives
information on other TALC nutrition
related education materials.