Kwara Steps Up Campaign Against Child Stunting

The Kwara State government said it has put in place measures to bring about a drastic reduction in child stunting in the state.

The Nutrition Officer at the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Gbenga Bankole made this known during an interview with LEADERSHIP in Ilorin, the state capital.

Bankole added that the state remained committed to improving the wellbeing of residents, especially children and pregnant women, through crucial strategies to the rapid development of children between 0–5 years.

The Nutrition Officer who is also a member of Kwara State Committee on Food and Nutrition, stressed that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life were very crucial to growth and development to avoid stunting.

He explained that, “tunting is caused by the lack of micronutrients that enable the body to absorb and metabolise the classes of food it needs, affects the body system’s functions and may not be discovered early until the child starts growing up.

“Once it is apparent that a child is stunted, it might be over a year and by that time, there will be no remedy. The child will lack growth both internally and physically. He will not be intelligent due to poor development and this would be a huge concern for the parents and a problem for the society,” he said.

He added that the state government, through the Ministry of Health, recently launched the ‘Eat a Rainbow’ campaign aimed at encouraging dietary diversity, ensuring the consumption of at least five classes of food nutrients daily.

“The staple food has its colour, the vegetables (green), pepper (red), oil, fish, meat or soya, fruits and all these make a rainbow,” he said.

Bankole noted that the state government has been in full support of the State Committee on Food and Nutrition by paying counterpart funds, which allowed the state to benefit from the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project.

He stated that prompt release of funds has made it possible for the agency to sensitise the public on infant and young child feeding and the effect of malnutrition.

He added that the ANRiN 1.0 was recently concluded, during which pregnant women received free doses of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine to prevent anaemia while disclosing that ANRiN 2.0 will soon be launched.