Abstract

HERRERA GIRALDO, Sandra Lorena; PANADER TORRES, Adriana; CARDENAS CARDENAS, Luz Mery  and  AGUDELO CELY, Nancy Aurora. Healthy food promotion: experience in Tunja, Colombia. av.enferm. [online]. 2012, vol.30, n.1, pp.55-63. ISSN 0121-4500.

Non-transmissible chronic diseases are a top priority as to public health, as they represent the main cause of disease and death worldwide, and specifically, in Tunja. Daily consumption of five servings of fruit and/or vegetables is estimated to be a protecting factor that may help decrease this kind of diseases, however, fruit and vegetable consumption in Tunja, in people aged 15 to 44 years old, proves to be insufficient. Purpose: design, implement, and assess an intervention strategy to increase the availability of vegetables in a village of Tunja. Methodology: qualitative study that applied the five research principles based on the community. It includes two components: educational and urban agriculture. Both components developed in four phases: insertion in the community, design, implemented and assessment. Results: Seven participatory educational sessions were performed and eight domestic gardens and one community orchard were sowed in order to grow fruits and vegetables. These aspects will allow for reflecting the importance of eating vegetables in the daily food consumption. As a result of the research: community members were empowered, new social networks were created and the nursing professionals were given more visibility within the community. Discussion: this project is a pilot benchmark at local level that contributes to booster effectiveness of educational processes in the city and also in similar context revolving around healthy food. Conclusion: an intervention strategy allowed to increase the availability of vegetables, empower the community, create social networks, and make the nursing professionals visible in guiding and leading community actions geared to promote healthier life-styles.

Keywords : chronic disease; feeding; urban agriculture; population education; qualitative research.

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