It is extremely important to address and assess women’s nutrition because women fill multiple roles more effectively starting from generating income, ensuring their families’ nutrition, and having healthy children—and thereby help advance countries’ socio-economic development.
Women are the ones who take care of the meals in a household, so all women must have a certain amount of nutrition knowledge to ensure optimal health for themselves and their families. Let us see how we can ensure better health for women.
Nutrition according to the life stages
Women have different nutritional requirements during different life stages. Adolescent girls need more nutrients such as iron and folic acid to prevent iron deficiency anaemia. Pregnant women require a surplus amount of calories at the time of pregnancy along with supplementation of folic acid before conception and during pregnancy. Lactating mothers require a certain group of foods known as galactagogues to ensure healthy breast milk production. During the later or menopausal stages of life, women need to concentrate more on the intake of calcium-rich foods to prevent conditions such as osteoporosis.
Improve the quantity & quality of meals at home
Women are often too tied up with balancing their household chores and careers that they either have no time or forget to give themselves some attention. They usually end up eating leftovers and prioritise what is made for other family members. Each woman must consume at least 1,600 calories and 50g of protein per day (values vary on individual body weight and type of work). Food they consume should be nutrient dense and of good quality.
Physical activity
Regular physical activity provides health benefits, including the reduction in risks of coronary heart disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, colon cancer, and premature mortality. Despite this information, most women are physically inactive. Engaging in physical activity also improves mood, reduces irritability, and improves energy levels. Exercising for at least 30-45 minutes per day, for five days a week, is ideal.
Consume a low fat- high fibre diet:
Less than 30% of the total daily calories should come from fat. Reduction in dietary fat with a corresponding increase in vegetables, fruits, and grains leads to benefits related to breast cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes, without adverse side effects.
Ensuring adequate micronutrient intake
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. All vitamins and minerals are important for good health. It is usually best to get vitamins and minerals—these often work together—from ingredients across food groups. The essential micronutrients for women include:
i) Folate: This nutrient helps the body make blood cells and the DNA for new cells. It aids in preventing certain birth defects called neural tube defects, which happen in the first three months of pregnancy, and helps prevent premature births and low birth weight in the baby.
Sources: Green leafy vegetables, roasted Bengal gram dal, orange juice, chicken, lean meats.
ii) Vitamin D: When taken with calcium, Vitamin D aids in building strong bones and prevents osteoporosis. It also helps reduce inflammation in the cells and enhances the immune system’s activity in fighting foreign agents.
Sources: Fish, mushrooms, fortified oil and cereals.
iii) Vitamin B12: This helps in making the red blood cells, which are essential in preventing anaemia. Since nutrient is majorly present in animal sources, this is also essential for vegetarians as they may require a supplement, which can be taken only after a prescription from a nutritionist/physician.
Sources: Animal meats, spirulina, fortified foods.
iv) Calcium: This helps protect and build strong bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. The body stores calcium in your bones, so if one does not get enough calcium from food, the body will take calcium from the bones, making them weak and easily broken.
Sources: Green leafy vegetables, milk and milk products, soy beverages, tofu.