ABSTRACT
The nutritional habits are changing, and compromising in a lot of cases the health of the population. A preventive measurement is to educate in the eating manners and the hygienic orientation, since both are essential in order to change eating attitudes and habits. The purpose of these guides was to aid in the training of health workers as well as to orient the Mexican population in improving their eating habits and nutrition. These guides were prepared taking into account the social and cultural characteristics of the population and were based on educational methodology of participation, with the intention of adapting them to each population group. Initially a critical analysis of the diverse material and methods used in nutritional education of urban and rural populations, was carried out and a lack of systematized methods and existent content was observed. Thus, the development of a didactic integral proposal of the nutritional education was considered necessary. The guides contain eleven modules with the most excellent information on nutrition during the life's cycle, hygienic handling and conservation of the foods. Each module contains ideas for the instructors and examples of exercises that they could propose to the population. Didactic units or guides with similar structures were designed conformated by introduction, basic concepts, educational content, bibliography, suggestions for further reading and techniques. The guides were included in a practical manual of easy use designed for health care working with public, including the educationally. The material has been used as an aid in diet and nutrition programs in Mexico and in courses proportionated to general public, where the result of the effectiveness learning index was 89%. The results obtained demonstrate the efficacy of these guides and suggest a longer term prospective study to determine real impact of our proposal.
