Shillong September 07: : Joining in the national effort to make India healthier, the Martin Luther Christian University today concluded its week long observation of the National Nutrition Week with an awareness programme held at a Christian Academy Hr. Secondary School.
This awareness programme was organised by the Nutrition and Dietetic Cell of the Department of Allied Health Sciences, MLCU on the theme “Smart eating is better than dieting” with the objective to create mass awareness about healthy eating especially among the adolescents and teenagers. The students of Classes VIII, IX and X from the Christian Academy attended the programme which was held in the school premises.
During the programme, presentations were made by the students from the Department of Allied Health Sciences who are currently studying MSc in Nutrition and Dietetics and MA in Nutrition and Health. The students spoke at length about the different forms of eating disorders that are prevalent among adolescents and teenagers and also a brief presentation on a proper balanced diet was also presented. The MLCU students also performed a short skit on the causes of eating disorders and also ways to fight any form of eating disorders.
The different types of eating disorders prevalent among teenagers are anorexia nervosa, which is characterised by restricted eating, loss of weight and a fear of putting on weight. The second one is bulimia nervosa which occurs which involves periods of bingeing on high-kilojoule foods (often in secret), followed by attempts to compensate by over-exercising, vomiting, or periods of strict dieting. The bingeing is often accompanied by feelings of shame and being ‘out of control’, while the largest group of eating disorders is “eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS)” which includes disorders such as binge eating disorder.
