Malnutrition affects brain development but fixable in the first 1000 days of a child, report from the presentation of a team Working to Improve Nutrition in Northern Nigeria (WINNN), has said.
The report also stated that, a stunted child has 40 percent less brain mass than a normal child.
Under nutrition exists when insufficient food intake and repeated infection result in one or more of the following:
•underweight for age,
•short for age (stunted),
•thin for height (wasted) and
•functionally deficient in vitamins and/or mineral micronutrients.
Malnutrition is a broad term that refers to all form of poor nutrition.
It is caused by a complex array of factors including dietary inadequacy deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in energy, protein and micronutrients), infections and socio-cultural factors.
Malnutrition includes under nutrition as well as overweight and obesity.
With the campaign by the #Nutritionreport to end malnutrition by 2030, Nigeria is ranked second behind India in the list of nations with stunted children with 45 percent children death associated to malnutrition related cases.
It is in the light of this that WINNN in partnership with UNICEF, Action Against Hunger and Save the Children International funded by DFID embarked on a six-year project (September 2011 to August 2017) supporting five states: Zamfara, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi and Yobe to help curb the issue of malnutrition.
The aim of the project was to build the capacity of the states and LGAs to implement nutrition interventions as routine services through existing public health centres and to use evidence-based advocacy to improve political commitment and government funding for nutrition interventions.
During a field work to the Community-base Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) centre in Jibia Local Government Area (LGA) of Katsina State, quite a number of mothers were seen accessing care for their children as they were also taught on how to prepare rich and nutritious meal from what is available around them without necessarily spending so much money.
The Nutrition Officer, Jibia LGA, Binta Ibrahim, said the challenges in the activity is becoming less since the women are now coming out to access care for themselves and their children.
“The major challenge we have is the beneficiaries, the women and not the government or the organization,” said Ibrahim.
“Some of them used to sell the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) instead of giving it to their children. This is a food supplement provided free to treat any malnourished child for a particular period of time. But in view of that we use our Community Volunteers (CVs) to track and do home visit so that we can identify those that are selling theirs instead of giving it to the child.”
She said the tracking has helped reduce the rate at which mothers misuse the RUTF, adding that when they started in 2014 because of less mobilization there were no much women but the numbers have improved through their CVs mobilization.
“We can say the outcome is much better,” she said.
The men are not left out; they help their wives with chores and also support the women to do exclusive breast feeding.
Binta Ibrahim said with the programme, the LGA has recorded fewer deaths, explaining that with the RUTF, they are also doing routine immunization and regular ante-natal visits for the women.
Most of the children were reported to be stunted or wasted the first week at the centre. Positive changes began in second week after treatment started.
“Most of them that came in with severe cases begin to change in the second week due to the treatment given them and in the eighth week they recover fully and are discharged. Mothers were also advised to continue with the food preparation they have been taught at the centre,” she said.
Mothers were taught on different food preparation and to imbibe the hygienic ways in caring for their children.
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Zainab Rabi’u mother of Fatima, 3, recalled her experience when she bought her child to the centre.
“They attended to us the very first day and gave us medicine. The child was given treatment but she was still sick in the first week but became better the second week and the improvement continued and she was discharged the seventh week. You can see her she is stron,” she said.
She said she learned much about food preparation and combination, and has been putting the knowledge to practice.
“All the things we were taught in preparing the pap, the milk, bean porridge and combination of fruits and vegetables has really help me,”she said.
She advised all mothers to take good care of their children in order not to make them a victim of malnutrition.
The Director, Primary Health Care in the state, Hamisu Lawal said, the intervention programme has helped reduce cases of acute malnutrition in the state adding that they now have zero mortality rate as regard malnutrition.
With over 3,000 children treated already, Katsina State government increased its nutrition intervention budget to N200 million in 2016 from the previous N30 million having seen the positive effect on those treated.
The number of admissions into the programme has increased from 150 in 2014 to 250-300 as awareness about available treatment grows.
“We have people coming from Niger Republic and states like Zamafara to access care. We now screen between 250-300,” said Lawal.
He said one of the major problems is lack of man power which they are able to conquer with the combined effort of the community volunteers.
“All the personnel around in the health facility should come and support the staff to conduct the program weekly. Definitely we have a very comprehensive voluntarily assistance in terms of malnutrition,”he said.
The deputy director, Budget and Planning, Katsina State, Muhammed Bara’u, said there are lots of commitment on the side of the government, including lately a proposal for five more council areas to join 15 others where the intervention is already present.
He said the N200 million budgeted for nutrition intervention in the state has not only been secured but also approved and released.
“A committee was formed in the community level to fight against the mis-use of RUTF and any one found guilty is sanctioned,”he said.
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