Community
Nutrition Assessment
The Role of Nutrition in the Health of Communities
It is clear that the health and general quality of life of a population are strongly influenced by the quality and quantity of the foods that are consumed by its members. In the US today we are confronted by problems caused by both excessive and inadequate intakes of energy and nutrients.
Changing Disease Patterns
In the 21st century the importance of infectious disease as a cause of population based morbidity and mortality has declined while the impact of chronic disease has increased. Knowledge of methods for prevention and treatment of disease, disability, and premature death has grown rapidly. In many cases though, these methods of enhancing health, especially those that involve personal behaviors such as tobacco use and nutritional intake have not been fully embraced by individuals and communities.The CDC Publication, Unrealized
Prevention Opportunities: Reducing the Health and Economic Burden of Chronic
Disease (1997) includes the following statement:
| "Unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity account for at least 300,000 deaths each year and increase an individual's risk for many chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. More than a third of the nation's adults are obese; less than a quarter of the population report eating recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables." |
Framework for Reducing Burden of Chronic Disease
The CDC has identified four measures that provide an effective framework for reducing the chronic disease burden. These are:- Promoting healthy behaviors
- Expanding the use of early detection practices
- Providing young people high-quality health education in schools and community settings
- Achieving healthier communities
Undernutrition and Hunger
Problems of undernutrition, hunger and food security remain for significant proportions of the population. The last attempt to quantify hunger is Washington State was completed in 1988, and a follow-up report was issued in 1993.Major findings in 1988 included:
- Families with children in Washington State were hungry.
- Senior Citizens in Washington State were hungry.
- Washington State was not taking full advantage of federal food assistance and child nutrition funding.
- Services were not coordinated.
- Administrative barriers reduced program effectiveness.
- Funding was inadequate in many areas.
Role of Community Nutrition Assessment
At a community level individual nutrition assessment data as such, may be lacking. In addition, few local communities have the resources to do a complete nutrition assessment of food intakes, clinical nutritional status measures of the population, and unmet nutritional needs. In the absence of these resources there are steps that can be taken-indeed must be taken-to assure that nutrition programs and interventions will be successful. These include interpreting data from state and national surveys and extrapolating how they might apply to the local community, gathering data about expressed nutritional concerns, and examining community resources.
An assets based approach is likely to be more effective in imparting
a sense of ownership in community members who take part in this process.
In each community there are groups who care about nutrition-churches, health
care institutions, government agencies, breastfeeding support groups, head
start, schools, parents, and health care providers.
| The illness burden has shifted during this century from acute to chronic illness and from younger to older individuals (Preventive Nutrition, 1997) |
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 A
Community Nutrition Planning Group |