A two-day media dialogue on child malnutrition with the theme: “Spend more money on nutrition”- #StopChildMalnutritionNigeria, kicked off on Thursday in Kano, with a passionate appeal on the Nigerian media to give adequate coverage to issues of child malnutrition and its attendant negative consequences on the wellbeing of the country.
The dialogue, organized by UNICEF is facilitated by Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku and is being attended by representatives of the traditional and online media, including members of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP.
The media advocacy dialogue is coming ahead of new figure on child malnutrition due to be released next week by UNICEF. Malnutrition is widespread in Nigeria and is said to be killing over 1,000 children daily.
UNICEF Chief of Communication, Doune Porter, stressed the need for media partnership so as to attract the necessary intervention to stop child malnutrition in the country.
Doune Porter, said a new figure on child malnutrition will be released by UNICEF soon, saying healthy and well-nourished children are needed for the future of Nigeria, calling on the media to sustain the partnership.
In his presentation on “An overview of malnutrition in Nigeria and its impact on children, UNICEF’s Chief Nutritionist, Arjan De Gwat, dwelt extensively on the nutritional values of foods that he classified as macronutrients and micronutrients.
He said 55 percent of child deaths are attributed to malnutrition, adding that malnutrition of the mother could result in disability of the child or miscarriage.
Arjan, said malnutrition could also lead to reduction in mental capacity and ultimately poor education of the child, advising mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months.
“Exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to save more children’s lives than any other preventive intervention,” he stressed.
The Coordinator, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, Chido Onuma, made a presentation on media advocacy required to keep the issue of child malnutrition on the front burner.
He spoke on how the media can support advocacy for increased resources for nutrition programming.
Onuma therefore, charged the media to sensitize governments at all levels to increase resources to enhance child nutrition.
He also charged them to do more of features, special reports and editorials to sustain focus on child malnutrition in the country.
Dr. Chris Osa Isokpunwu of the Federal Ministry of Health, also made a presentation on Nutrition Situation in Nigeria. The dialogue ends on Friday.
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