Nutrition, Hygiene and Health Promotion Training - OCHANet

These are foods which contain large quantities of carbohydrates and fats, examples are sorghum, maize, bananas,potatoes, vegetables and animal fat and oils. These foods provide energy to our bodies to enable us to carry out dailyactivities like working, thinking, running, talking and even enabling the heart to beat. The fats in the body are useful forprotecting the organs of the body, like the heart and kidney. Fats are also useful for giving us warmth since they are storedunder the skin.Protective foodsThe nutrients that protect the body against infections and fight diseases are called vitamins and minerals. Examples offoods sources include green vegetables and fruits.Fluid giving foodsMany foods are good sources of fluids, for example vegetables and fruits contain large quantities of water. The bodyrequires water to transport nutrients to its various parts. Water is useful in making blood, saliva, tears, it‘s also useful forenabling body processes to take place such as digestion. It is needed to keep the mouth and lungs moist, and to keep theskin moist and cool. It is also required in production of breast milk, which is an equate source of water for children belowsix months.The table below shows the different sources of nutrients available in a nutritious mealNutrientCarbohydratesFunctionProvideenergySourceFood group-Cereal grains-Tubers &rootsLocal sourceFood items-Maize, Sorghum, Millet, Wheat, Rice-Potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, ArrowrootsNutrition, Hygiene and Health Promotion Training: Training for Trainers Guide April 2012 35