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Health

Group, Kwara Govt collaborate to curb malnutrition

Group, Kwara Govt collaborate to curb malnutrition

By Yinusa Ishola
Partnership
Ilorin, May 9, 2019 (NAN) A group, the Civil Society-Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), says it is collaborating with the Kwara Government to reduce high rate of malnutrition among infants and pregnant women in the state.
Mrs Jane Egemonye, the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for CS-SUNN, said this during the group’s advocacy visit to the Kwara Ministries of Health, and Planning and Economic Development in Ilorin.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CS-SUNN is a coalition, made up of NGOs and non-profit organisations with a vision toward transforming Nigeria to a food and nutrition secured economy.
It also engages governments and mobilises non-state actors to advocate relevant policies, funding, programme implementation and build capacity of local communities to scale-up nutrition.
Egemonye, while presenting the Kwara policy brief on nutrition to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Alhaji Abdulazeez Oyelowo, said the state was presently home to a large population of malnourished children and pregnant women.
The CS-SUNN official said the latest report by the National Nutrition Health Survey (NNHS) indicated that the state has under-5 mortality rate of 45 deaths per 1,000 live births and an infant mortality rate of 40 per 1,000 live births.
According to her, nutrition as an essential component of well-being, had over the years, been receiving less attention by the state government.
“Kwara State Government’s investments in the key nutrition interventions have been very poor between 2015 and 2018.
“Most times despite budgetary allocation, little or no funds are released.
“It has been observed that even when government expands the size of the state budget, the budget for nutrition specific interventions do not follow the trajectory.
“Also, 32.5 per cent of children under-five are stunted, 7.0 per cent are too thin for their ages, 19.9 per cent are underweight and only 35.7 per cent of children less than six months are exclusively breastfed in the state,’’ she said.
Mr Ambrose Evhoesor, SC-SUNN Project Officer, said the advocacy visit was part of the collaboration aimed at finding lasting solution to the menace of malnutrition prevalence in the state, especially among children under five years.
Evhoesor described the ministry as very strategic and in vantage position to make the collaboration a huge success.
He, therefore, solicited the cooperation of the ministry in the area of having a robust planning and modalities for scaling up nutrition activities in the state.
Responding, the permanent secretary, ministry of planning and economic development, identified inadequate resources as a major factor affecting the full implementation of most of the government’s policies and programmes.
Oyelowo described the advocacy visit as very timely as the state was witnessing political leadership transition.
According to him, it will afford the ministry the opportunity to put forward necessary recommendations for the incoming administration.
He said the issues of inadequate budgetary allocation and release of funds were not peculiar to nutrition alone as they were already receiving the attention of concerned authorities.
Oyelowo commended the group for the partnership and its foresight, urging it to maintain the tempo. (NAN)
ISHO/VIV/MST
Editing by Vivian Ihechu/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Nigeria needs N186m annually to address malnutrition – FG

Nigeria needs N186m annually to address malnutrition – FG

By Angela Atabo/Jessica Dogo
Malnutrition
Abuja, Dec. 14, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Government says Nigeria needs N186 million annually for five years to address the challenge of malnutrition in the country.

Dr Chris Isokpunwu, Head of Nutrition, Federal Minitry of Health, disclosed this at a two-day Nutrition Budget Tracking Workshop for Civil Society Organisations and Media in Abuja on Friday.

While presenting “How to Track Budget line for Nutrition: Assessing Public Expenditure on Nutrition through Budget Analysis’’, Isokpunwa said the overall money needed to address malnutrition in Nigeria is $912 million.

He said that malnutrition referred to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy or nutrients, adding that the term malnutrition covers two broad groups of conditions – under nutrition and overweight.

According to him, under nutrition includes stunting which is low height for age, wasting which is low weight for height, underweight which is low weight for age and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies, a lack of important vitamins and minerals.

He said that overweight includes obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

“The National Strategic Plan of Action is a cost nutrition plan to tackle malnutrition in Nigeria and the total cost required for that plan is $912 million U.S dollars, that is close to a billion Naira.

“This amount is spread over a period of five years which comes to about 186 million U.S dollars annually to address malnutrition in Nigeria.

“Most of it will be used to treat children with serve acute malnutrition and also to enlighten people on behaviour change.’’

According to Isokpunwu, malnutrition is wide spread in the country; though it is higher in the North-West followed by the North-East then North-Central.

He said that it is 50 per cent in the North-West, 42 per cent in the North-East, in the North-Central; it dropped to about 24 per cent but it is increasing in the southern region.

He said that in the South-East region it is now 17 per cent, adding that in all the three southern region malnutrition seemed to be going up so it was a national issue that needed to be address holistically.

“If we now talk about equity, equity is about ensuring that those areas that have higher issues get higher attention.

“This, however, does not mean that the areas that have lower issues get lower attention so as to ensure that malnutrition is addressed across the nation as a whole,’’ he said.

Mr Muhammed Muritala, the Programme Officer on Nutrition Advocacy, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC),bsaid that inadequate provision of Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) across the country was worrisome.

Muritala explained that the workshop was aimed at engaging the media and civil societies to advocate budget provision for malnourished children as well as improve the sate of nutrition in the country.

He said that though the Federal Government made allocation for funding nutrition, the budgets had yet to be released in most states, leaving developing partners to champion and mobilise resources alone.

Also, the Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Nigeria, Chizoba Steve-Edemba, estimated that 2.6 million children in Nigeria suffer from malnutrition and these children are nine times likely to die.

Chizoba charged the federal government to address the situation and tasked CSOs and the media to amplify the processes and hold governments accountable for funding provided.

The UNICEF nutrition specialist said that this would go a long way to reduce the number of malnourished children in the country. (NAN)
ATAB/JEZ/VIV/MST
Editing by Vivian Ihechu/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Snail reduces malnutrition in children, pregnant women – Nutritionist

Snail reduces malnutrition in children, pregnant women – Nutritionist
By Maureen Ojinaka
Nutrition
Enugu, Dec. 7, 2018 (NAN) Mrs Henrietta Ugwu, the Nutrition Officer, Enugu State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, says snail meat helps in reducing malnutrition.
Ugwu stated this in interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Enugu.
She said the reduction was because snail meat corrects iron deficiency in children and pregnant women.
The nutritionist explained that pregnant women and children whose diets contain snail would definitely be healthy.
Ugwu said that snail meat, which is also white meat, contains protein and polyunsaturated fatty acid, iron, Vitamin A, Calcium, zinc and folate.
She pointed out that it also contains healthy essential fatty acids, adding that the high-protein, low-fat content of snail meat makes it a healthy alternative food.
According to her, snails contain non-harmful fatty acid in the body as well as protein which helps in building blocks for haemoglobin.
“Snail meat is a source of protein which is an important building block for bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood in our body.
“It is low in calories and high in protein like any other animal derived protein; the protein in snail is complete which means it contains the amino acid that is expected to be derived from a diet,” she said. (NAN)
OJI/CHOM/MST
Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Kano Govt, UNICEF sign MoU to curb malnutrition

Kano Govt, UNICEF sign MoU to curb malnutrition
By Tukur Muntari
MoU
Kano, Nov. 23, 2018 (NAN) The Kano State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Programme in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kabiru Getso, signed the document on behalf of the state government while the UNICEF Country Representative, Mr Mohamed Fall, signed on behalf of UNICEF.
Fall said under the agreement, UNICEF would procure 16,000 cartons of RUTF from state resources for treatment of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the state.
“In addition, UNICEF will match that by 50 per cent (8,000 cartons) using UNICEF funds, bringing the total quantity of RUTF to 24,000 cartons.
“If the state government makes full payment of 300,000 million before the end of December, then UNICEF can guaranty 100 per cent matching for the funds,’’ he said.
The UNICEF representative added that under the agreement, the fund would provide free shipment and transportation of the RUTF to the state government in Kano.
Fall said with the RUTF match-funds arrangement, no fewer than 27,907 severe acute malnourished children would be treated in the state.
In addition, he said UNICEF would provide technical support to the government to target, identify, treat and follow-up children with severe acute malnutrition during the treatment period under the arrangement.
“UNICEF shall be responsible for administering the contribution to support the activities as outlined and in accordance with the provisions of this agreement.
“The government shall be responsible for coordinating with UNICEF as necessary to implement the activities effectively,’’ he said.
According to him, the Kano state government is expected to transfer to UNICEF its contribution as outlined which will represent the amount of funds to be managed by UNICEF, inclusive of five per cent programme support costs.
He assured that the fund would take all necessary steps to ensure that all the contribution is used for the sole purpose of fulfilling the activities to ensure its success.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Nasiru Gawuna, assured that the state government would ensure prompt release of funds for the implementation of the programme.
NAN reports that the MoU was signed in the presence of members of the state executive council at the Government House. (NAN)
MTM/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Malnutrition: Nasarawa Govt urges collective action

Malnutrition: Nasarawa Govt urges collective action
By Awayi Kuje
Malnutrition
Keffi (Nasarawa State), Nov. 15, 2018 (NAN) The Nasarawa State Government has called for collective action against the challenge of malnutrition among children in the country.
Mr Bulus Amoye, the Chairman of the state Committee on Food and Nutrition, made the appeal during the quarterly meeting of the committee in Keffi on Thursday.
Amoye, who is also the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, said that the meeting was aimed at discussing strategies at improving nutrition and reducing malnutrition.
He said this could be achieved through effective coordination of activities of all nutrition actors in the state and at the local government level.
He explained that the meeting was meant to rationalise and mobilise activities and resources for scaling up nutrition in the state.
“The Nasarawa State Government is committed towards addressing the challenges of malnutrition among children in the state in order to improve on their health status and for the overall development of the state and the country at large.
“The state government is also doing its best in improving on the nutrition need of children in the state,” he said.
Amoye also urged parents to give adequate attention to the nutrition needs of their children in order to complement government efforts in that direction.
Besides, the chairman called on nutrition partners in the state to work toward improving the nutrition needs of children.
“I will appeal to parents and other citizens to always maintain hygiene in the interest of their health and that of their children so as to complement government efforts in tackling challenges of malnutrition among children in the state.
“Let us continue to keep our environment clean. The hygiene condition of our environment is very important as it will go a long way in improving on our health status,” he said.
The permanent secretary renewed the state government commitment to continue to initiate good health policies and programmes that have direct bearing on the nutritional needs of the children in order to improve on their standard of living.
Dr Ibrahim Adamu, the Director, Public Health, state Ministry of Health, stressed the need for preventive measures against malnutrition in the state.
Adamu said if parents and other citizens take precaution measures against malnutrition, it would go a long way in boosting the health and standard of living of the people, especially that of children.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting brought together the committee members, including the Director of Planning, state Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mr Isah Abdul. (NAN)
AKW/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Malnutrition: Nasarawa community volunteers, mothers demand more support from UNICEF

Malnutrition: Nasarawa community volunteers, mothers demand more support from UNICEF
By Awayi Kuje
Malnutrition
Keffi (Nasarawa State), Nov. 8, 2018 (NAN) Some Community Health Volunteers and benefiting mothers of malnourished children in Nasarawa State have lauded the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for tackling malnutrition among children in the state and the country at large.
The volunteers and mothers however called for more support from the fund to eradicate malnutrition challenge in the area.
Mrs Fatima Musa, a Community Volunteer in Keffi, who spoke on Thursday during an interactive session with Dr Zakari Adam, the Chief of Field Officer, UNICEF Kaduna, said that the provision of Ready to Use therapeutic Food (RUTF) to malnourished children had improved on the lives of their children.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adam led other members of the fund on an assessment tour to one of its services, Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), at Primary Healthcare Centre, Angwan Waje, Keffi, Nasarawa State.
Musa said that she decided to be community volunteer in order to contribute her quota to the development of the health sector.
“As community volunteer, our duty is to sensitise and educate women in various communities on the need for them to keep their environment clean and to maintain hygiene.
“We also educate them to visit Primary Healthcare centre in case if they found abnormality in their children.
“We told them to visit clinic for other health counselling as well as to test their children for appetite, and we also said that this service and food provided by UNICEF is free of charge.
“And through that you can see women taking their children for clinic in order to enjoy the services and we have achieved good results.
“We are thanking UNICEF for the gesture and we called for its substance,’’ said the volunteer.
She, however, appealed for more incentives to volunteers in order to boost their morale, standard of living and to take care of their local transportation and running.
Some of the benefiting mothers also commended UNICEF for the gesture.
They said that a lot of children lives had been saved in the area due to the services and food provided by UNICEF.
Responding, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, urged the community volunteers to continue to offer their services in order to save the lives of children in the area.
Adam assured them that he would discuss with the chairman of the local government council to see how they can collaborate in order to address their challenges.
While urging them to continue to be dedicated and committed to their duties for the overall development of the health sector, he added that God would reward them abundantly.
NAN reports that Ms Chinwe Ezeife and Mr Rabiu Musa, the Nutrition Specialist and Communication Officer of UNICEF, Kaduna, respectively, supported the exercise.
NAN also learnt that the Ready to Use therapeutic Food (RUTF) provided by the UNICEF for malnourished children is been funded by Children International Foundation Fund. (NAN)
AKW/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

UNICEF committed to addressing malnutrition challenges in Nigeria – Official

UNICEF committed to addressing malnutrition challenges in Nigeria – Official
By Awayi Kuje
Malnutrition
Keffi (Nasarawa State), Nov. 8, 2018 (NAN) The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is committed to addressing the challenges of malnutrition among children in Nigeria to improve their health status.
Dr Zakari Adam, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, made this known when he led other members of the organisation on an assessment tour to Primary Health Care Centre, Angwan Waje, Keffi, Nasarawa State.
Adam said that the tour was to see things by himself at one of its service centres, the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), Keffi, with the view of addressing any challenge if any.
Adamu, who expressed happiness with the commitment of health workers and other community volunteers of the centres toward tackling the challenges among malnourished children, urged them to sustain the tempo.
According to him, the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) provided by the UNICEF are given to children is free of charge.
He called on the parents, especially mothers, to avail their children of the opportunity of its CMAM programmes to improve on the health of their children.
“Basically, I came here to see things by myself, and look into our activities, how are they – health workers/community volunteers are succeeding in handling the malnourished children, what are their challenges, among others.
“We have an issue of malnutrition among children that is why UNICEF and the government of Nigeria agreed to carry out some intervention in the area of malnutrition.
“But we cannot do this without full and active participation of the community, so the involvement of the community is key for the success of our programmes, especially in area of addressing malnutrition challenges,” he said.
Adam restated the commitment of the organisation to continue to train and retain health workers and other volunteers of its programmes to improve on the health status of the children and Nigerians.
The chief said that the organisation would continue to support Nigerian government in different areas of health and education, among others, for the overall development of country.
Mr Chinwe Ezeife, the Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Kaduna Field Office, also urged parents to give adequate attention to the nutrition needs of their children.
Ezeife also called on parents and other citizens to always maintain hygiene in the interest of their health and that of their children.
The nutritionist also expressed happiness with the success recorded toward bettering the lives of malnourished children in the area.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Rabiu Musa, Communication Officer of UNICEF, Kaduna; Mr Gambo Ibrahim, the Director, Primary Healthcare Centre, and Hajiya Habiba Umar, Nutrition Focal Person, Keffi Local Government Council, witnessed the event. (NAN)
AKW/GY/MST
Edited by Grace Yussuf/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Malnutrition: Major enemy of child’s physical, cognitive devt -Expert

Malnutrition: Major enemy of child’s physical, cognitive devt -Expert
By Talatu Maiwada
Malnutrition
Abuja, Nov. 3, 2018 (NAN) Ms Oluwatosin Akomolafe, Knowledge Management Advisor with Save the Children, an NGO, has identified malnutrition as a major enemy of a child’s physical and cognitive development.
Akomolafe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja that if children do not receive adequate nutrition they could become stunted and susceptible to infections.
She said that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life provided an opportunity to chart the course of a child’s life, both in physical and cognitive development.
“ The first 1,000 days, which is a period between conception and the second birthday, is crucial and provides a window to chart every child’s life development.
“Outside of this window, any damage to the child’s physical and cognitive development is irreversible; they become stunted and susceptible to infections in childhood.
“They can suffer malnutrition which can be under-nutrition, over-nutrition or micro-nutrition and are also more likely to suffer chronic diseases such as heart diseases and obesity in their adulthood,’’ Akomolafe said.
She said that an undernourished child would get sucked into a vicious cycle of under-nutrition; they become stunted adolescent with poor cognitive development and under-perform in school.
According to her, as an adult, a stunted individual will be two per cent to 2.4 per cent less productive than their peers, and consequently earn less income, losing cumulatively at least 10 per cent of their lifetime earnings.
The knowledge management adviser said that a stunted adult female, was also likely to give birth to an underweight child, thereby entrenching a vicious cycle of malnutrition.
Akomolafe noted that malnutrition had a wider and long-term impact on the society and on individuals, adding that it had also been found to have economic and social cost on the society.
“Globally, about 155 million children under the age of five suffer from stunting with a high burden of stunted children in sub-Sahara Africa.
“In Nigeria, the prevalence of stunting is 44 per cent with about six million children stunted, therefore, the first 1,000 days is the critical period for both economic and cognitive deficits,’’ she said.
Akomolafe said that determinants of under-nutrition in children included poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, access to care and environment.
She said the Child Development Grant Programme (CDGP), which the NGO is currently spearheading, was aimed at tackling poverty and hunger as well as reducing malnutrition in children under-five years of age.
Akomolafe said the programme also targeted pregnant women from the moment pregnancy was confirmed until the child reaches two years of age. (NAN)
TIM/COF/MST
Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Malnutrition, leading cause of death among children – Paediatrician

Malnutrition, leading cause of death among children – Paediatrician
By Ummul Idris
Malnutrition
Abuja, Sept. 21, 2018 (NAN) Dr Anna Shafe, a Paediatrician, has attributed the leading cause of death among children less than three years to malnutrition.
Shafe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja that half of all deaths in children less than three years had malnutrition as the underlying cause.
According to her, these children will have recovered from common child diseases if they had not been malnourished, but because they are malnourished they die.
She noted that management of severe acute malnutrition focuses mainly on reducing mortality.
She however said that management of moderate acute malnutrition was more focused on preventing mortality by reducing further deterioration of nutritional status.
The paediatrician described malnutrition as multifaceted, adding that it encompasses both over nutrition which is mainly associated with overweight and obesity.
She added that under nutrition, which is another term in malnutrition, referred to multiple conditions including acute and chronic malnutrition and micro nutrient deficiencies.
She noted that chronic malnutrition results from insufficient intake or absorption of essential nutrients over a protracted period.
According to her, the most commonly used indicator of chronic malnutrition is associated with developmental impairments and reduced economic potential later in life.
She said that micro nutrient deficiency was a form of chronic malnutrition that could have marked impacts on health, development and productivity, over the lifespan.
She said that the impacts of chronic malnutrition were particularly pronounced when they occurred in the first years of life, which she said was a period of rapid growth and development.
According to her, acute malnutrition results from sudden reductions in food intake or diet quality and is often combined with pathological causes. (NAN)
UMD/OOA/MST
Edited by Olabisi Akinbode/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Malnutrition: Experts recommend breastfeeding, diet

Malnutrition: Experts recommend breastfeeding, diet
By Lydia Ngwakwe
Malnutrition
Lagos, Aug. 29, 2018 (NAN) Experts in Nutrition and Dietetics on Wednesday said inappropriate breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices were main causes of malnutrition in the first two years of a child.
The experts made the observation at the 6th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference organised by the Nigerian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NISPGHAN) in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference is: “The Role of specialised Paediatric Gastroenterological care in improving child health’’.
They observed that the period of birth to two years of age of a child was recognised as a critical period during which adequate nutrition should be provided for the child to achieve optimum development and full growth.
Prof. Philip Abiodun, a Consultant in Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, regretted that mothers gave complementary feeds to their babies too early.
He said that the appropriate and perfect feed for infants in the first six months of life was breast milk.
“Breast milk is the perfect blend of nutritional and non-nutritional substance that ensures appropriate outcomes in growth, cognition, immune response and long term well-being.
“In Nigeria, malnutrition is widespread as 41 per cent of all children less than five years of age are stunted, 14 per cent wasted and 23 per cent are underweight.
“This is as a result of poor diet or lack of food. Also, when the intake of nutrients or energy is too high, too low or poorly balanced,’’ Abiodun said.
The nutritionist urged mothers to ensure they gave adequate amount of food to their children and at the right frequency.
He advised nursing mothers to eat well so as to be able to exclusively breastfeed their babies, saying unless they (mothers) are extremely sick to do so.
Abiodun, also President of NISPGHAN, urged mothers to eat well rather than considering drinking palm wine for more breast milk.
He said drinking of palm wine does not help in the production of milk, saying normal good and balanced diet does the magic.
Miss Patience Chima, a Dietician Nutritionist of the Dietetics Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said malnutrition affected infants mostly due to lack of nutrients critical for normal growth and development.
According to her, globally malnutrition starts under age five.
“Children need to eat balanced meals and variety of foods to get the right nutrients; they should get enough protein and vitamins.
“The more malnourished a child is the more nutrients that are missing, the more likely she is to have a problem,’’ Chima said.
She urged mothers to effectively feed their children so as to avoid them being under nourished.
She said under nutrition whether in weight, size or in height would cause problem to the child.
She said the mental development of the child would also be affected, thereby, causing the brain not to have the energy to do what he supposed to do.
NAN reports that Nestle Company, nursing mothers, nurses and doctors from all over the country attended the conference.
A communiqué is expected at the end of the conference on Aug. 31. (NAN)
LED/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola