Tribune News Network
Doha
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has launched nutrition guidelines with the aim of promoting the health of women, pregnant women, new mothers and their children from birth to the age of five years.
The guidelines have been prepared with the help of teams from various health and academic institutions concerned with maternal and child health in Qatar, in cooperation with a consultant from the World Health Organization.
Dr Salah Abdullah Al Yafei, acting director of Health Promotion and Non-communicable Diseases at the MoPH, said: “Health and academic institutions in Qatar have key roles to play in the implementation of these guidelines to ensure better maternal and child health in the country. The guidelines aim to improve the nutritional and health status of women and mothers during pregnancy and lactation, in addition to improving the nutrition and health of infants and children until the age of five years.”
The nutrition guidelines for mothers and children are in line with the dietary guidelines of the State of Qatar, launched in 2015 with the aim of increasing community awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy weight, reducing the intake of foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat, practising physical activity, drinking water in adequate quantities, and ensuring that food is prepared under safe and clean conditions.
These guidelines are included in the National Action Plan for Nutrition and Physical Activity, which aims at reducing premature deaths related to malnutrition and lack of physical activity, and to improve the nutrition of the mother and child.
The chapters of the Nutrition Guidelines for Mother and Child (0-5 years) of Qatar, which are divided into seven chapters, review healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyles during all stages of pregnancy, from pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and after pregnancy to the development of the child to the age of five years.
These guidelines provide comprehensive tips on woman’s diet before, during and after pregnancy, the ways to prevent gestational diabetes, the importance of physical activity and breastfeeding, and how to introduce complementary nutrition into the infant’s diet.
, the ways to deal with potential allergies in infants, oral and dental health and the importance of sleep.
Within the framework of the event, the MoPH organised various groups in the presence Dr Lara Nasr El-Din, consultant at the World Health Organization, to obtain feedback and observations of women that will benefit from the guidelines. These observations have been taken into account and included in the guidelines in order to ensure community engagement in the preparation of the guidelines.
