Health
THE International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH) has outlined significant gaps in knowledge about proper nutrition for children in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of ISMPH, Moji Makanjuola, made this known in an Interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
She spoke on the sidelines of a “dissemination meeting” of the European Union- Agents for Citizen Driven Transformation (EU-ACT) supported project on empowerment of women and the prevention of severe acute malnutrition in the FCT.
Makanjuola listed some of the challenges as heightened poverty, distrust for medical practitioners and facilities, and a general lack of awareness about the state of malnutrition in the FCT.
“There is also inadequate Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) at health centres, among other set backs, ” she said.
She recommended the use of a multipronged approach involving the media, civil society groups, policymakers and engagement with the highest level of the executive and legislative arms of government.
She said that future projects on nutrition should be tailored towards sensitisation, awareness creation, and women empowerment in the cultivation and use of locally available foods to produce nutritious meals for their families.
Makanjuola recommended strong private sector participation, including research into local food practices, childcare and nutrition.
According to her, More women in rural or low-income communities should be empowered with skills for improved livelihood across the country.
She called on mothers and other stakeholders to ensure the right feeding for children to tackle the menace of severe malnutrition in the country.
She said that Nigeria had serious malnutrition problems such as underfeeding, overfeeding and wrong feeding.
“Of sll these, underfeeding is our focus in terms of quality and quantity.
“Over two million children are acutely malnourished in the country, and it is preventable when action is duly taken to feed them right.
“We need to protect our children socio-economically and emancipate them from this malaise by feeding them right.
“Government is striving to get nutrition right but sadly not enough to cover pre-schoolers,” she said.
Makanjuola added that a major source of malnutrition was poor, uneducated and unempowered mothers without knowledge of adequate, right and affordable food choices.
According to her, through the programme, 60 women in Kwali and Bwari area councils of the FCT were empowered on how to turn waste into wealth and improve nutritional knowledge. (NAN)
A.I
Tags: ISMPH Moji Makanjuola
