•Nation With Many Malnourished Children Suffers
Underdevelopment
Ms. Chioma Blessing Kanu, is the Programme Manager, Civic
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a non-profit organisation that is
championing efforts towards better legislations to improve lives of people in
many areas, especially, maternal and child health. Kanu who is a passionate
advocate of improved maternal and child nutrition interventions, in an
interview with CHIOMA UMEHA, calls for increased and timely release of funds by
government at all levels to promote maternal and child health.
What is the current situation of malnutrition in Nigeria?
Recent surveys have shown that 57 per cent of children are
malnourished and 41.7 per cent of them are severely stunted in Kaduna state.
Micronutrients deficiency such as Vitamin A and iodine is also common among
these children (27.8 per cent) due to poor intake.
Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can
lead to stunted growth.
The main indicator for malnutrition is stunting- when
children are too short for their age. Stunted children have poor physical
growth which is irreversible and associated with poor brain development and
reduced school and work performance. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey
(NDHS) Results of 2013, reported prevalence of stunting at 56.6 per cent,
underweight 57.6 per cent, and Wasting 42 per cent in children under five years
old. This means Kaduna with 56.6 per cent of stunting has the third highest
number of stunted children under-5 years of age in Nigeria after Kebbi with 61
per cent and Katsina and Jigawa with 59 per cent respectively.
Appropriate actions must be taken without delay to
drastically reduce the incidences.
What are effective ways of addressing malnutrition in the
country?
So to address this issue, there are many interventions from
donor agencies that require government commitment.
For instance, Nigeria has a national strategy plan of action
on malnutrition, which has been adopted, but it is yet to start implementation.
NSPAN are well articulated plan and if properly addressed
and implemented, we will not have cases of malnutrition any more.
But, since 2012 that the document was produced, it was just
adopted by 2015; we are yet to start implementation this year.
There is need for effective implementation of the National
Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (NSPAN 2014-2019) at every level, with
emphasis on maternal and child nutrition; increased funding for maternal and
child nutrition at the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and other relevant
sectors all the States, especially, those with endemic malnutrition. There is
need for budgetary allocation and timely release of funds for maternal and
Child nutrition practices and interventions, at state and local government
levels.
Government needs to step up actions in this area. The
government needs to be more responsible, look at the counterpart funding that
donor partners are providing and augment it. It is very important for the
government to make up for the difference in the donor funding. For instance,
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has counterpart arrangement with
the federal government, but it might interest you to know that most of the time
Nigerian government will not fulfill their commitment in providing funds. To
fulfill their commitment, that is providing allocation in the budget is
different from release the fund, so that counterpart funding cannot be
accessed, unless the money is released.
For instance, if UNICEF is contributing 75 per cent of funds
for nutrition, and need government to contribute 25 per cent; if government
does not release the 25 per cent that is allocated for nutrition under the
budget, then the country cannot access the 75 per cent from UNICEF. So those
are the issues that need focus in the media. That is why we urging the media to
enlighten the government.
Malnutrition damages the brain of a child in such a way that
he will not be able to compete favourably with another child of his age. He
might not be able to pass his examination that is one of the effects of
malnourishment. A nation that has many malnourished children cannot think far,
they cannot be ahead in time of development, those are the issues, there is a
lot to gain by funding nutrition, so government should not hesitate in
investing in it.
There have been increased clamouring recently, for a policy
on nutrition, how will this affect the pregnant woman?
Adequate food and optimal nutritional status are the foundation
blocks for the building of healthy, secure lives, and thus form the basis for
development in any nation.
Nigeria has a high burden of malnutrition. This comes in the
form of undernutrition, over-nutrition, Mineral and Vitamin deficiencies. 37
per cent of children who are under the age of five are malnourished, while
about 53 per cent of the death of this group of children is attributed to
malnutrition in Nigeria. Malnutrition among children also constitutes 50 per
cent of the underlying causes of many communicable and non-communicable
life-threatening diseases, in addition to the high level morbidity and mortality
in the State.
What is the relationship between adequate feeding of a
pregnant woman and the first 1000 days of her baby?
Adequate feeding is very important for the pregnant woman
because which should cover the first 1000 days of her baby, even as a fetus.
The counting of the 1000 days begins from the first day the woman conceives to
the time the baby is two-years-old. The quality of nutrition within this period
is very crucial in the development of the baby as whatever a mother consumes is
taken up by the fetus in the womb.
So it is very important for a woman to ensure that what she
eats during pregnancy changes as this affects her baby’s development. A
mother’s food at this stage should be more nutritious as this is critical to
the health of her baby.
If a malnourished mother gives birth to a child, there is a
high tendency that her child will be predisposed to low birth weight which
contributes to infant mortality.
Similarly, a woman who is malnourished has high risk of
predisposal to maternal mortality. In Nigeria, one in 13 women dies during
pregnancy or childbirth, and 12 per cent of children die before reaching the
age of five; every 10 minutes, one woman dies from conditions associated with
childbirth; and only 39 per cent births take place with assistance of medically
trained personnel, coupled with the scarcity of skilled attendants, absence of
personnel among other factors impede the effectiveness of health services in
the country.
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