By Uchenna Ugwu
The Dietitians Association of Nigeria (DAN), Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, (AEFUTHA) chapter, has advised Nigerians to imbibe regular dietary check up.
The association also urged frequent consultations with registered dietitians to ensure healthy living.
Lynda Okpara, Head of Unit, Nutrition and Dietetics Department, who spoke on behalf of the association, gave the advice on the occasion the World Registered Dietitian-Nutritionists Day.
The theme of this year’s celebration was “Diet, the Best Medicine, Eat Right, be Active’’.
The Day is celebrated every second week of March.
Okpara said that the call for action was for individuals, including members of staff of the department, who rarely give attention to their health and well-being.
She said that the event was an annual programme aimed at creating awareness on the importance of the association.
The dietitian described health professionals as people who used diet therapy in the treatment as well as management of diseases and well-being of people.
She explained that people did not often visit hospitals to access good health care.
She attributed it to the difficult economic situation, while noting that prevalence rate of non communicable diseases in the society was increasing.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the dietitian-nutrition programme is a week-long event which will feature free screening, counselling of participants and awareness creation to educate students.
“We will educate the people on proper dieting, sex, gender, life style, environment, economic status, health condition, nutritional assessment, food safety and importance of physical activities.
“We have also decided to reach out to the people with free Random Blood Sugar (RBS), Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), blood pressure, nutrition and counseling, among others,” she said.
