Mrs Grace Odjidja, Principal of the Agogo Women's Training College, has advised families to engage in small-scale backyard farming in their leisure hours to help supply them with the necessary nutrients needed in their meals. She said a number of Ghanaians have health problems because they do not get the right amount of nutrients needed by the body daily due to financial constraints. Mrs Odidja was speaking at the launch of Home Economics Day celebration by the Home Economics Association of Ghana (GHEA) in Kumasi. The day, celebrated annually throughout the country attracted stakeholders, teachers and students from the various senior secondary schools. It was under the theme, "Supporting Sustainable Development and Quality of Life through Sustainable Consumption". Mrs Odidja said those who could afford to buy the right nutrients rather resort to fast foods, which they believed could give them the balanced diet needed. She emphasised that though children of today grow fatter than in the olden days, most of them suffer chronic diseases for lack of quality dietary foods. The Principal warned against the practice where people pride themselves in becoming fat, adding that such people engaged in over-eating and eating the wrong foods. This she said may result in high blood pressure, heart diseases and diabetes among others, which are common in both the young and old. She appealed to parents to desist from feeding their children with refined sugars, a lot of starchy foods and sweets, saying it was a very bad practice and asked parents to feed their wards with the right nutrients for healthy growth. Mrs Jessie Osei-Kofi, Ashanti Regional President of the Association, explained that home economics as a discipline is multi-faceted, which combines knowledge with other disciplines. It also involves for instance family finance management, housing and shelter, food and nutrition as well as clothing and textiles. She cited an example where some men had improved their living conditions in their families by learning the subject since practitioners use all resource available for active healthy good life.Source: GNA