How can humor be used to make nutrition education more engaging?

To break the ice and bond with the patient. when the patient and his/her family enter your clinic depressed lost worried I start doing the casual medical history checking all investigations and when any opportunity to make a joke comes I seeze it and make a joke... when we r done and they leave smelling,not worried, having hope, this helps me to keep going on, and that helps them to fight more and to be more open with me

As demonstrated by research, therapeutic humor is able to de-stress individuals, possibly through endorphin and opioid systems, both of which are also involved in eating behavior. A popular theory for understanding humor includes its evolution as a relief of nervous energy, potentially making it an ideal antidote for stressful situations. This is supported by the empiric observation that mirthful laughter decreases serum levels of cortisol, epinephrine, growth hormone, and 3,4-dihydrophenylacetic acid (a major dopamine catabolite), indicating a reversal of the “stress response.”

Nutrition education can be heavy and at times, overwhelming. I think it is useful to use some humor to help make a topic relatable and memorable. If you are teaching nutrition, you have to mix up how you present the information to keep the audience engaged. Of course, misplaced humor can backfire, so knowing and reading the audience is imperative.

In my opinion, using affiliative humor is the most effective way to make nutrition education more engaging. People who use affiliative humor tend to joke with others to enhance social interaction. Affiliative humor involves saying funny things, telling jokes, making spontaneous and humorous witty banter, all with the goal of improving relationships, reducing interpersonal tensions, and cheering others up. Examples of affiliative humor might include sharing funny stories, making inside jokes, or playing good-natured practical jokes during social events.

This part triggers an interesting discussion because when humour is mechanically created, it would feel like a boss you never see cracking out dad jokes at a company dinner. Humour is not something to be manufactured. It should be natural, organic and native. Humour also has contexts and audiences. Different types of humour will appeal to different groups of people. It's important to first be a subject matter expert for clarity in understanding. Thereafter, communicating more with your targeted set of audience will help. It should feel like having a conversation with friends you have. One quick way is also to spot social trends that attention is flowing to, and executing on them with social natives who know how.

Using humor can be a great way to make difficult situations more bearable. However, it's important to be mindful of the type of humor you use and who your audience is. Everyone has their own unique sense of humor, so it's important to tailor your approach based on factors such as age, culture, and gender. Some people may prefer physical or visual humor, while others may enjoy wordplay or puns. It's also important to consider the appropriateness of using humor in certain situations. Humor can be used to lighten the mood during a sad or serious moment, but it's important to allow people to express their emotions first before trying to make them laugh. As Schlef says, "Sometimes people cry until they can laugh, but they need to cry first."

Try running a family learning workshop about creative writing and introduce all the elements of the hero stories we all love Then instruct that the superhero has to be a vegetable. This was a awesome session where families create stories together. A particular family where the child hated vegetables and it was worrying Dad came up with 'Broccoli head" as their protagonist. And the picture they drew was amazing of a superman with Broccoli and talked about all his powers. This is a fun way to feed in nutrition elements and children love the science and clever things they get. This is one way, approach from a different perspective that will ensure engagement in a fun, no judgement way.