Book Review ‘Women and Nutrition’ (Malay Version)

Written by Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, balanced and orderly nutrition is essential for a woman to ensure optimum health and thus be able to carry out her duties as wives, mothers, workers and members of society. Healthy women can continue to contribute to their families and countries. This book aims to guide women on good nutrition and how to practice them in the family. This is because women are important individuals in ensuring that the family and their family members receive the best nutrition and health care. Healthy food at the individual and family level will be able to develop a healthier society and have a healthy quality of life. This booklet is hopefully useful as a helpful guide for doctors, nurses and other health professionals as an alternative to the usual approach to nutritional needs aspects among Malaysian women. As a health professional who is concerned with the treatment of illness, we often miss that nutrition is a preventative disease. Good nutrition is a major component of good health and overall wellbeing. This is true in women’s health care. Unlike men, the woman’s body through changes in line with the most dramatic change in life is when pregnant and breast-feeding. Their nutritional requirements also change to meet the physiological changes and protect themselves from the risk of disease at every stage of life. The most effective health care is where we can give women the right nutritional advice while aware of the uniqueness of women. Until then, we can empower women to realize their responsibility for their own health as well as their families.

Women’s body differs from men in terms of body composition (fat, lean mass), bone density, hormone composition and physical strength. Women all over the world, regardless of their economic status, suffer from malfunctions of malnutrition and excessive nutrients. Physiological and biological changes at some stage of life cause their nutrient needs to grow significantly so they are more susceptible to nutrient deficiency. Excessive nutrients increase the risk of a woman getting chronic diseases. Nutritional problems can adversely affect the quality of their lives and can be life threatening in some situations. As a healthcare professional, we should educate women about nutritional problems so that they can be prevented through healthy eating.

Lack of nutrients can be due to a lack of food intake due to improper eating habits. This condition becomes worse with bacterial and parasitic infections. It will cause weight loss, growth incentives, anemia, subsequent developmental problems affecting academic performance and excessive work. Nutrition is due to improper dietary practices due to excessive energy consumption (especially from fat, oil and sugar), and usually with the intake low fiber and lack of vitamins and minerals. It can cause obesity, hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus (type 2), some types of cancer, osteoarthritis and sleep disorders. Unhealthy living habits such as lack of physical activity and smoking increase the risk of getting these diseases. A woman’s weight may provide the amount and quality of nutrients taken in the diet. Food intake based on seven healthy eating principles can guarantee a healthy weight. Apart from dietary factors, other factors such as age, physical activity and lifestyle patterns affect women’s weight. Excessive or underweight increases the risk of chronic health problems. As a health professional, awareness of other factors can help us find excessive or underweight in women. When we understand that weight problems are not only due to improper dietary habits, we can better approach weight issues among women. Health professionals need to monitor women’s weight status regularly. The fat distribution should also be known as it provides additional information about body composition other than weight. Therefore, the circumference of the waist and waist ratio to the hip should be measured on a regular basis. Information about weight and fat distribution is essential to helping women take care of their weight.