Introduction

Effective and affordable delivery of nutrition education depends on sound training so that knowledge and skills for behaviour change can be communicated to a target audience.

This contribution provides suggestions to guide the instructor who trains nutrition educators on planning and implementing in-service training that does this. Nutrition education is based on the sound application of knowledge derived from the food and nutrition sciences about the relationships between diet and health (Anderson, 1994). The use of educators with training in nutrition allows efficient use of human resources. Such individuals have a science base that encompasses both food and nutritional science upon which they can draw in crafting educational messages.

First we discuss some general issues that must be considered when embarking on nutrition education projects, including: who should be trainers and who should be nutrition educators? We discuss requirements for instruction of the instructors who provide in-service efforts to nutrition educators. We also review what communication skills nutrition educators need to encourage healthful diet-related behaviour changes. We address some other considerations, such as which causes of malnutrition can be remedied by nutrition education interventions. Finally, the institutional arrangements and resources for nutrition education are examined.

Recommendations especially relevant for nutrition education in developing countries follow the Conclusions section. A glossary gives definitions of terms referred to in the paper.