Cook for your children, the state tells parents
The government has called on parents to cook for their children to avoid malnutrition.
Through the Ministry of Health, the government said that lack of nutritional knowledge, lack of food and lack of time to cook are among the major factors contributing to malnutrition across the country.
Leila Odhiambo, Deputy Division of Health, Nutrition and Dietetics, Ministry of Health, said current trends show that parents, especially those from the working class, are reluctant to prepare meals for their children. children.
According to her, this contributed to the famine.
According to her, a diet rich in micronutrients, including vitamin A, zinc, iodine, iron, folic acid and vitamin B, is essential for a child’s development and growth.
“Children with low micronutrient intake are likely to suffer from various diseases such as anemia, diarrhea and malaria,” Odhiambo said.
She encouraged eating five types of foods, namely vegetables, fruits, animal and plant proteins, vegetables and carbohydrates.
Odhiambo spoke at the third Kenya National Food Fortification Summit, held in Nairobi.
“Micronutrients are of great public importance and their failure has led to deaths, especially among children under five,” Odhiambo said.
His remarks came after a report released by the ministry said at least 45 percent of children under five in Kenya die due to undernourishment.
Kilifi, West Pokot and Samburu are the five counties most affected by the number of underweight children (wasting), at 37, 34 and 31 percent respectively.
Other counties with the highest cases include Meru and Kitui with 25 percent.
The report released earlier today showed that at least 203,168 cases of underweight children were reported in the five major counties.
The health ministry attributed the undernutrition to lack of food and lack of knowledge about diet.
But Odhiambo argued that the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners, is training food manufacturers on the importance of fortifying meals.
Fortification involves adding vitamins and minerals to heavily consumed meals to increase their nutritional value.
According to the Kenya Food, Drugs and Chemicals Act, fortification requires that all salts intended for human consumption, packaged maize flour, wheat flour, fats and oil be fortified specific vitamins and minerals.
Enrichment is encouraged in highly consumed meals, which are aimed at a wider population.
“We encourage massive fortification of meals with salt, iodine and oil, especially in highly consumed meals like wheat and maize flour,” Odhiambo said.
In 2011, the National Micronutrient Survey revealed a high level of anemia in the population, more so among pregnant and childbearing women aged 15 to 49 years.
His sentiments were echoed by Professor Daniel Sila, Director of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), who encouraged manufacturers to fortify foods for nutritional value .
The university carries out capacity building activities in fortification and analysis.
The university has been enriching food in collaboration with KEBs for five years.
“Enrichment with maize flour and salt has significantly reduced cases of goiter and malnutrition,” Professor Sila said.
The researcher added: “Everyone eats ugali and salt. “That’s why we encourage food manufacturers to enrich their meals to cater to a wider population.”
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