Health Monitoring of Vulnerable Groups

Working with children with cystic fibrosis, I learned that there are big differences in people´s attitudes towards quality of life. Young children restricted in their daily life, nevertheless laugh and enjoy their days when they are supported by parents who are aware of the limited possibilities and life expectancy of their children. It became very important for me to improve the quality of life of these children. And it was a great moment when I recognised that their everyday life did indeed get better because of my intervention and support.

During my work with disadvantaged and vulnerable groups I realised that improving knowledge on healthy ways of life - including well-balanced diets and regular physical activity - does not always solve problems but most people benefit from improving their health literacy and nutrition competences in their everyday life - also with marginal resources.

As a nutritionist, I am very interested in the results of the latest research. Even though, I learned that health depends a lot on socio-demographic factors. Human health is determined and affected by an incredibly complex and ever shifting combination of nutritional, physical, and also social and political factors. That's why nutrition monitoring is important to develop targeted health promoting interventions.