Promoting Healthy Eating in the Community

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and across Africa, the population's diet is diverse and rooted in cultural traditions resulting from a varied climate that is conducive to plant and animal species. This varied climate is a natural blessing and opportunity for dietary diversification in the country; unfortunately, the local community is not aware of this. Research conducted by the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies serves as a barometer for all of humanity to learn from and widely disseminate these findings to the entire community. This scientific evidence is not widely publicized and is largely unknown to the vast majority of the population in the DRC and other countries around the world. This brochure is by no means intended to replace specialized textbooks on nutrition and diet. Rather, it serves as a community health tool, written in simple language, to help people understand what they should regularly include on their tables and what they should avoid in order to prevent noncommunicable diseases.