The role of nutrition in medical care

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Extract from the article: Nutritional management aims to improve nutritional status and meet the specific nutritional needs of patients. The science of nutrition is continually evolving, and the role of nutrition has been demonstrated in the management strategies for many dis

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Nutritional management aims to improve nutritional status and meet the specific nutritional needs of patients. The science of nutrition is continually evolving, and the role of nutrition has been demonstrated in the management strategies for many diseases. Having understood the close link between food and health, the Association Nationale des Spécialistes en Hygiène Alimentaire et Management de la Qualité du Togo (ANASHNQ-Togo) organised the 1st edition of the 100% Santé Scientific Congress in Lomé from 22 to 23 November on the theme: « The place of nutrition in medical care». The aim of the conference was to analyse and highlight the nutritional status of populations, particularly patients, the quality of nutritional care and, above all, therapeutic education. The proceedings were opened by Dr Serge Kossi Kodjo, Endocrinologist, Diabetologist and Nutritionist, representing the Chairman of the Scientific Committee.

The amount of the different nutrients a person needs varies according to age, sex and activity, as well as factors such as menstruation, pregnancy or breast-feeding. Needs also vary during illness and convalescence.So all the disciplines that deal directly or indirectly with human health need to work together to make an effective and important scientific contribution.

To this end, this scientific congress has provided an opportunity to analyse the current balance between preventive health through nutrition and curative health, to investigate the contribution of nutritional intake to disease management, and to distinguish between the nutritional needs of a healthy person and those of a person suffering from an infectious or chronic condition.

The link between nutrition and health

The link between diet and health, both upstream (food that causes or predicts disease) and downstream (food that contributes to the recovery of health), is inseparable from the primary mission assigned to medicine and all other related disciplines.

According to Dr Serge Kodjo, Endocrinologist, Diabetologist and Nutritionist, « what we eat today can be a source of well-being or disease. We can see all this in the scale of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer.We need to be able to adopt a healthy diet on a daily basis, while also including physical activity that can provide us with mental, psychological and physical well-being. Nutritionists, dieticians and all practitioners involved in the management of non-communicable diseases must be involved in therapeutic education. We need to educate our populations, our patients, to eat well. We need to eat a balanced diet, in other words, all the nutrients and macronutrients we need to be in good health ».

Numerous studies have shown that diet has a major impact on various factors involved in the pathogenesis of disease. « Food provides nutrients, i.e. substances that provide calories for the activity, growth and maintenance of the body, and for the maintenance of a good immune system.A diet is balanced when it provides the right quantities of dietary energy and nutrients that the person on the diet needs during the day to meet their nutritional requirements », reiterates Pr Kissao Gnandi, Chairman of the Congress Organising Committee.

For the President of ANASHNQ, Welessi Blantare, « we eat to be in good health: but sometimes our diet gives us infectious or chronic diseases, poisoning the body. This slows down our metabolism and significantly reduces our life expectancy.So we need to eat well, that is to say eat a balanced diet, vary our food sources and listen more to our bodies and look after their needs ».

The conference featured a number of presentations, including: « Combating child malnutrition: production of edible insect-based infant meal », by entomologist Dr Dodji Kassegne; « Analyse situationnelle du programme d'iodation universelle du sel au Togo », by biochemist and nutritionist Dr Mamatchi Melila; and « The importance of food supplements for health », by Akossiwa Denise Logossou of Neolife.

Feeding oneself and being in good health is an indisputable need for everyone, and a constant preoccupation of governments and the whole of humanity.If nutritional care is to be effective, it needs to work on all these fronts.

William O.