Japan Targets Schools To Strengthen Adolescent Nutrition, Health In Nigeria

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA-Nigeria) has conducted a school-based nutrition promotion programme to strengthen adolescent health and promote healthy eating habits among Nigerian students.

The programme was launched at the Junior Secondary School, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, where teachers were trained on ways to promote better nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices among adolescents.

About 55 per cent of adolescent girls also suffer from anaemia, with poor dietary diversity and inadequate iron intake identified among the major contributing factors.

Speaking at the programme in Abuja yesterday, the Programme Coordinator, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Environment, Climate Change, JICA Nigeria, Mrs Princess Kelechi Barry-Chukwu, described adolescent nutrition as a critical but largely neglected area of national development.

Barry-Chukwu said adolescence represented the second-fastest period of growth after the early years of childhood and therefore required greater attention from the government and other stakeholders.

Chukwu said that about 31 per cent, or nearly one in three, Nigerian adolescents aged 10 to 19 are thin or underweight, while the prevalence of acute malnutrition among adolescent girls is more than four times that of adult women.

“Nutrition is one of the most rewarding investments a government could make, and Nigeria should also key into this so that we can have a very productive adult population in the near future,” she said.

She explained that JICA had been supporting global nutrition development through food-based interventions and by promoting healthy, diversified diets among families.

According to her, the agency decided to focus on schools because they provide an important platform for learning and behavioural change.

She said the programme, which would run until January, would equip teachers to pay greater attention to what students eat, their snack choices and other lifestyle decisions.

Barry-Chukwu urged teachers to establish nutrition clubs, develop school gardens and use classroom opportunities to counsel students on healthy eating.

She also encouraged teachers to engage parents in their children’s dietary habits and development, while integrating nutrition activities into their regular school programmes.

She listed possible activities, including nutrition debates, fruit challenges, lunchbox challenges, food and cooking demonstrations, and fruit weeks.

“Nutrition shouldn’t be an issue that people only discuss at home. It should be an issue that concerns everyone because all of us eat.

“Nutrition is everyone’s problem. We should help our adolescents to make better choices, feed better and live to be healthier adults,” she said.

She added that JICA would guide the school in mainstreaming nutrition into its activities through school garden development, the establishment of nutrition clubs and regular nutrition-focused programmes.

Also speaking, Mrs Simiat Jumoke-Salau, Home Economics Teacher and JICA Desk Officer at the school, said teachers and schools had crucial roles to play in promoting healthier diets among students.

She said the school planned to encourage students to consume more fruits and vegetables through behavioural-change approaches, noting that many students currently consumed mostly junk food, snacks, biscuits, zobo, and soft drinks.

Salau also called for greater attention to nutrition education in the school curriculum.

She expressed concern about changes to the curriculum at the junior secondary school level, saying Home Economics had been replaced by trade subjects such as garment making and cosmetology, while some aspects of nutrition education had been removed.

She argued that the development required reconsideration because students spend a significant part of their day in school, arriving as early as 7 a.m. and sometimes remaining until 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., or 4 p.m., especially when extra lessons are included.

Mr Ude Ekele, Deputy Director, Agricultural Research and Development Secretariat, FCT Administration, who delivered a lecture on school garden development, stressed the need for schools across Nigeria to establish and maintain gardens to encourage healthy nutrition among adolescents.

Earlier, Mr Johnson-John Edache, a representative of the Department of Social Mobilisation, Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), FCT, called for effective implementation of the key deliverables of the pilot programme.

Edache said the lessons from the training would be communicated to relevant directors, adding that principals of secondary schools should be sensitised on the importance of ensuring that adolescents eat healthily and remain healthy.

He described the initiative as a significant step toward bringing adolescent nutrition back into the focus of teachers and schools.