Malnutrition: Society urges media practitioners on good, benefits of nutrition
Malnutrition: Society urges media practitioners on good, benefits of nutrition
Nutrition
By Abujah Racheal
Abuja, Sept 13, 2022(NAN) The International Society for Media in Public Health (ISMPH), has called on media practitioners to advocate for good nutrition and its benefits to end malnutrition in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of ISMPH, Mrs Moji Makanjuola, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Makanjuola said this on the sideline of a media parley on Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), organised by ISMPH.
She said that the media could reach out to communities with their reportage and empower them on the need to prevent causes of under nutrition like diarrhoea, malaria.
“The media need to advocate correct health and nutrition behaviour such as promotion of breastfeeding, hand washing practices, use of toilets and consumption of safe drinking water,” she said.
Makanjuola said that the parley, organised by ISMPH with support of the European Union Agent of Citizen Driven Transformation Programme (EU-ACT), was to highlight the role of the media to end malnutrition in Nigeria.
“The central purpose of this parley is to drive conversations on the issues of SAM in Nigeria, re-emphasise the strategic role the media plays in its reduction.
“It will also seek for the media support in our quest to combat SAM in the country.
“According to UNICEF, Malnutrition is a direct or underlying cause of 45 per cent of all deaths of children under the age of five,’’ she said.
Makanjuola said that Nigeria had the second highest burden of stunted children in the world, with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under five.
“An estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from SAM, but only two out of every 10 children affected are currently reached with treatment.
“Seven per cent of women of childbearing age also suffer from acute malnutrition,” she said.
She said that a joint statement by WHO and UNICEF, reported that a child with severe acute malnutrition was nine-fold more likely to die than one without.
“You will agree with me that these are disheartening figures, especially as we consider that children below four make up to about 8-8.2 per cent of the national population.
“ISMPH has undertaken to work specifically to combat this epidemic in Northern Nigeria.
“Under the project funded by the Children Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), ISMPH utilised the media to emphasise the budgetary inadequacies in nutrition and to demand accountability for duty bearers,” she said.
Makanjuola, however, said it was realised early that for true impact, the solutions proffered to malnutrition must be well-rounded and innovative.
“While calling for improved policies and systems, we must also focus on providing sustainable solutions at the grassroots where malnutrition is most prevalent.
“Through our latest intervention, ISMPH observed that malnutrition is spurred by poverty, cultural myths about child care and deficiency in knowledge on healthy food mix by poor and vulnerable mothers,” she said.
Makanjuola said that the media had an extremely powerful and challenging role to play when it comes to disseminating information to the disadvantaged and vulnerable Nigerians.
She said that the group of persons had lower levels of education and higher levels of under nutrition amongst children and women.
Makanjuola said that this was why ISMPH was excited to implement a project which directly responded to the drivers of SAM through the strategic economic empowerment of mothers of vulnerable children.
“We are hopeful that the media will continue to join us in this laudable goal by creating awareness and initiating a discourse on SAM in the Federal Capital Territory.
“The media should demand that the existing laws and policies on child nutrition are implemented to the latter,” she stressed.
NAN reports that SAM, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), is defined as very low weight for height (wasting) and is caused by a significant imbalance between nutritional intake and individual needs.
It is mostly caused by both quantitative (number of kilocalories/day) and qualitative (vitamins and minerals) deficiencies.
NAN reports that Nigeria ranked number one in Africa and number two in the world in terms of the number of malnourished children.
The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2018 showed that seven per cent of children are wasted in Nigeria and 3.4 per cent in the FCT respectively.
(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
AIR/DE/IA
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Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Idris Abdulrahman