Healthy Feeding And Eating Practices JSS1 Home Economics Lesson Note

TOPIC: HEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES   

MEANING OF FEEDING HABITS

Feeding or eating habits are your everyday patterns of eating. It involves the tendency to reach out for food whenever you are hungry. These habits vary from one person to another and from one locality to another. However, it is good to maintain healthy feeding habits by choosing foods that are nourishing and properly prepared.

A healthy feeding habit results from consciously choosing nutritious food.

 HEALTHY FEEDING PRACTICES  

1.     Eat a variety of foods. Eat food from all the food groups
2.     Balance the food you eat with physical activity
3.     Always eat three balanced meals every day
4.     Eat regularly and do not skip meals
5.     Choose nutritious foods in a conscious way
6.     Choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits
7.     Choose a diet that is moderate in sugar
8.     Make use of food in season
9.     Choose a diet that is moderate in salt and sodium
10. Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

HEALTHY EATING PRACTICES  

1.     Sit upright at the dining table but do not allow your body to touch the table
2.     Always wash your hands before and after meals
3.     Do not hurry over meals or eat too quickly.
4.     When eating take just enough food that can easily go into your mouth
5.     Chew your food properly
6.     Do not talk with food in your mouth
7.     Close your mouth when chewing food
8.     Never use a knife to put food into your mouth
9.     Use cutlery properly
10. Do not put too much food into the mouth at a time
11. Do not stretch your hand over someone’s food to reach for salt or water
12. Do not take food directly from the serving dish into your mouth except with traditional service
13. Do not be greedy. Consider others when helping yourself with food
14. Always be polite when eating or serving others.

 EFFECTS OF HEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES  

1.     It promotes good health
2.     It makes one look and feel better
3.     It makes one good and energetic
4.   It prevents one from getting some diseases later in life e.g. diabetes, obesity, heart diseases
5.     It makes the body better equipped to heal fast and properly, than a poorly nourished one.
6.     It makes the person physically alert and mentally active.

EFFECTS OF UNHEALTHY FEEDING AND EATING PRACTICES  

1.     Kwashiorkor
2.     Marasmus
3.     Anaemia
4.     Beriberi
5.     Pellagra
6.     Scurvy
7.     Rickets
8.     Night blindness
9.     Goitre
10. Oedema
11. Obesity
12. Underweight
13. Overweight
14. Stomach upset
15. Indigestion

 FOOD ADDITIVES

Food additives are substances deliberately added to food to improve its appearance, colour, texture, flavour, nutritive value, aroma, and taste and to preserve the food. Examples include African lemon grass, Curry, Bitter leaf (ewuro, shawaka onugbu), Thyme, Mustard, Tea bush (efirin, nchanwa, infang, amana), Sesame, African nutmeg, Cinnamon, Ginger, garlic, onion e.t.c.

 USES OF FOOD ADDITIVES

1. To improve the flavour of the food
2. To improve the appearance and colour of the food
3. To improve the taste of the food
4. To excite appetite
5. For garnishing and preservatives