The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has insisted on the need for adequate nutrition for even growth of children in Enugu State, particularly the first 1, 000 days of their lives.
The organisation, however, bemoaned the purported 15% of children in Enugu State that have stunted growth, an indication that they could not receive the recommended dietary allowance for a child per day.
The UNICEF Nutrition Specialist (UNICEF), Enugu Field Officer, Dr. Ngozi Onuora, said this in Enugu on Monday at a one-day Review, Planning and Scale-up on the First 1000 days Dietary Diversity Initiative in Enugu State, themed: “Combat Child Malnutrition and Enhance Healthy Growth.”
Dr Onuora said that it is disheartening that, although Enugu State is known for its agrarian nature, the children are still suffering from stunting growth and malnutrition. She said that to curb the menace, Enugu is a focal state that is benefiting from the United States’ grant on preventing malnutrition in the first 1,000 days.
She said that for Enugu children not to suffer malnutrition, UNICEF came up with programmes that would aid nutrition. Onuora said: “UNICEF started a programme, a model project in the state on dietary diversity in the first year. It is to ensure that after six months of exclusive breastfeeding, mothers give their children diverse foods.” She emphasised that stunting growth is still a menace in the state.
According to Onuora, “Unfortunately, Enugu is supposed to be an agrarian community, but we still have pockets of malnutrition. We have about a 15% level of stunting, for children who are shorter than the expected height of their age. Which means that out of every one in four children, are shorter than the expected height of their age.
“And in terms of feeding the children after exclusive breast feeding for six months, what do they eat? So, the least of minimum dietary diversity for children from six months to twenty-three months in Enugu is 28%. Which means that about one out of every four children do not receive the recommended dietary allowance for the child per day.
“So, what is it means is that UNICEF has supported the state to implement this programme and we are benefiting. We have selected Igbo-Etiti local government area, Udi and Nkanu West to implement and we are having success stories because women who were trained on caring practices about exclusive breastfeeding, dietary diversity, like income generating activities such as goat farming, vegetable gardening and production of complementary foods are giving testimonies of how it has been helping their children to grow effectively.”
Earlier, the Enugu State Commissioner for Human Development and Poverty Eradication, Prof. Bernadette Okoli, who convened the scaling up and review meeting, explained that the first 1000 days were important in the life and growth of the children; hence, the need to scale up the dietary diversity initiative.
Prof. Okoli said: “The first 1,000 days of life—from conception to a child’s second birthday—represent a critical period for ensuring proper growth, brain development and lifelong health. Adequate and diverse nutrition during this period can significantly improve a child’s chances of survival, healthy development and future productivity.
“As the Ministry responsible for Human Development and Poverty Reduction, we recognise that malnutrition is not merely a health challenge; it is also both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Families experiencing poverty often face difficulties in accessing nutritious food, quality healthcare and other essential services required for healthy child development.
“Today’s meeting therefore provides an opportunity to review our progress, strengthen collaboration, identify gaps and agree on practical strategies for expanding the initiative across Enugu State.”
One of the participants and the deputy chairman of Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State, Hon. Mary Oluchi Nwani, stressed the importance of nutrition in the early life of the child and said that as a local government, “We scale up the importance of nutrition in farming, livestock farming and also formulating feeds and our locally grown crops and grains.”
