Nutrition: Federal Govt, Partners Take Enlightenment On Sustainable Diets To IDP Camp

As part of activities to mark the nutrition week, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in collaboration with Civil Society-Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) took an enlightenment walk on nutrition to Internally Displaced Person’s (IDPs) camp in Wasa community, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Speaking during the walk, the head, food and nutrition, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Chito Nelson, said nutrition week is a week set aside to encourage people to eat healthy and manage their homes to ensure that there is food security at home.

She said this year’s event, with the theme: “Achieving Sustainable Diets through Consumption of Locally Available Foods” harps on the need to return to local diets, saying these foods are not only nutritious but also sustainable.

“These days, we observe high consumption of industrialised foods . We are no more looking at the local foods, there are some local foods that are getting extinct that people don’t even know about anymore.

“There are local foods that we want people to start eating. Some of them , these younger ones growing up don’t even know what these foods are and even some of these local foods that are still healthy, they will not eat it.

“We are telling the mothers, things are hard, any small portion you have around your house, you can use that portion to grow something. Nothing stops anybody from having a garden where they can grow vegetables and other things,” she urged.

Addressing the women in the IDP camp, the nutrition officer, FCT, Mrs clementina okoro, said the whole week was set aside as the national nutrition week to promote good nutrition for sustainability.

She said “We have join our mother to promote nutrition at national and sub national level and we have chosen Wasa community especially where we have IDPs, knowing that with their situation, having access to food could be challenging especially sustainable food.

“Part of what we are promoting is breast feeding, exclusive breastfeeding for children that are less than six month, giving babies only breast milk because that is sure way for food security, is a sustainable diet starting from one hour of birth and at six month, add varieties of food or early diet as we call it, having food that are locally grown.