According to the co-owner of the Nutrition Garage Lutgard Musiime, proper nutrition prevents serious medical conditions that would otherwise need to be cured in the hospital.
She explained that nutrition refers to how the human body interacts with food and how that food supports the entire body to function.
“As a nutritionist, I help people understand what foods are good for the body. I like to say that doctors treat but nutritionists prevent,” she said.
This was during the Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman, as the nutritionist talked about her passion for working with children and people with special needs. Ms. Musiime said that it is important to understand the patient’s environment before prescribing the appropriate diets for them.
Musiime currently works with Spoon Foundation, an organization that supports childcare institutions (orphanages) counter malnutrition after it was discovered that the children in orphanages had more levels of malnutrition than children in ordinary homes.
“We talk to their caregivers and help them understand nutrition about children, how it affects the children and why it is important. We monitor their growth, things like anemia, the meals they eat, and their position while eating,” said Musiime.
She continued that a child’s position can affect their body positively or negatively explaining that children between 0-2 years have different anatomy which allows them to eat while they are lying. But from 2 years and above, the anatomy shifts which causes choking when they eat food while lying.
“There’s a term silent aspiration (choking) that happens when a child is not positioned well and some particles of food go into their windpipe. This is because the windpipe and food pipe are positioned together, and during swallowing, there’s a membrane that closes the windpipe so that the food doesn't go to the windpipe.”
“So when the child has not positioned well the chances of that membrane fully closing become few and some particles escape into their windpipe. This is common in children with disabilities who may not be able to sit well and the food goes into the lungs. And when it does, it piles up, and then they get pneumonia,” she explained.
She, therefore, asserted that it's important to train children to sit upright when eating. The nutritionist explained that under the Spoon care Foundation, she trains, advises about nutritious feeding, and its processes, and educates Child care institution's caretakers about precautionary measures and foods that can prevent serious medical ailments.
Lutgard Musiime is a Ugandan nutrition blogger, nutritionist, and the co-founder of the newly founded Nutrition Garage, a facility that specializes in personalized nutritional feeding that is located opposite Sinebel Supermarket.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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