The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that inadequate nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can lead to stunted physical and impaired cognitive development.
UNICEF’s Nutrition Officer for Kano field office, Mrs. Abigail Nyam stated this while making a presentation on ‘First 1000 days of Life’ during an advocacy dialogue meeting with news and programmes managers of radio and television stations from Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states.
According to Nyam, how a mother nourishes the child during pregnancy and before age two has great impact on the child’s future, noting that poor nutrition could cause an irreversible lifelong damage to a child’s growing brain and body.
She identified some of the effects to include weak immune system, poor physical growth, development delays, cognitive deficits, chronic disease such as diabetes and obesity later in life, among others.
“According to UNICEF’s State of the World Children 2010 Report, undernutrition contributes to more than one – third of the deaths.
“Undernutrition particularly in children less than two years of age prevents them from reaching their full development potential.
“WHO’s recommendations of optimal infant feeding include, beginning breastfeeding within an hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, followed by timely and appropriate complementary feeding after six months along with continued breastfeeding for two years or beyond,” she stressed.
While maintaining that 80 percent of brain development occurred at this period with a foundation for lifelong health established, Mrs Nyam however pointed out that, investing in the health, nutrition, care of mothers their young children could help states and countries achieve their developmental goals.
She further advised pregnant and nursing mothers to ensure the intake of the multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), emphasising on its rich composition which can meet the micronutrients requirements absent in poor diet.
Speaking also, UNICEF advocacy specialist, Priyanka Khanna, stressed on the need to ending polio in Nigeria, noting that if every child, especially in the north can be reached in the next three rounds of immunization, polio can be eradicated within the shortest possible time in the country.
Earlier the Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, Rahma Farah, tasked media managers to use their platforms to amplify the cause of children who are voiceless in the society.
Represented by the field’s office communication specialist, Samuel Kaalu, he noted that issues affecting children in the zone are enormous, hence, the need to focus on advocacy priorities given the impact of the broadcast media, especially radio in northern Nigeria.
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