Benin, 14 April 2010 – More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition. In the drier, northernmost part of the country, most families harvest crops for both income and their own consumption, feeding their children whatever is available from this yield.
“The main cause of malnutrition is ignorance,” said Linata Gbadamassi, a nurse working in the Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department.“There is not a shortage of food but, rather, mothers don’t use the right ingredients,” she added. “They tend to always give the child plain porridge made of just maize or millet instead of enriching it with soya or other nutritious foods.”
‘A problem of child survival’The problem is intensified by local myths about food, according to Ms. Gbadamassi. For example, many people believe that if their children eat eggs, they will become thieves. Much discussion and counselling will be needed to change these deep-seated beliefs.
Child malnutrition is also rooted in the unequal power relationship between men and women.
“It is the men who buy the meat and will often eat their share first, leaving whatever is left over for the wife and children,” said Ms. Gbadamassi.
“Malnutrition is a phenomenon that starts very early in life, in the womb, and its consequences are irreversible,” noted UNICEF Benin Nutrition Officer Anne-Sophie Le Dain. “What we have here in Benin is a problem of child survival.”
Community-based programme Reaching parents in Benin – a country of about 9 million people and some 50 languages – has proven to be a challenge. To connect with parents, UNICEF is working with Benin’s Ministry of Health on an innovative, community-based programme to prevent child illnesses related to malnutrition.
As part of an innovative community-based programme in Benin, parents are taught to make nutritional porridge for their children.
The approach was first introduced in 2006 in Alibori Department, where malnutrition rates were high. It aims to engage communities, thereby ensuring that children who suffer from malnutrition are identified, and mothers and caregivers are educated about proper nutrition.
“The community is the start and finishing point for whatever is done on nutrition,” said Dr. Severin Tokannou, who has headed the programme in Alibori since it began. “In every village, there is a community liaison worker who is responsible for going door to door to identify the signs.”
The programme now reaches 80 per cent of the country’s departments and involves a network of 14 health facilities.
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/benin_53329.html
Showing posts with label Incompetent mothering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Incompetent mothering. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Uganda: malnutrition
Kampala
Ms Grace Komuhindo sat quietly under a tent, holding her one-and-a half year-old baby at the nutrition unit at Mulago National Referral hospital. She was here to get treatment for the baby. Weak, emaciated and frail, with sunken eyes, the baby can neither crawl nor stand. She is severely malnourished and weighs only six kilograms-almost the same weight that some children would have at birth.
Dr Samson Muddu, a pediatrician at the hospital said ideally, Komuhindo’s baby should weigh at least 12 kilogrammes. “This child is suffering from severe acute malnutrition and it is life threatening,” said Dr Muddu.
According to the World Health Organisation, severe acute malnutrition is characterised by a child having low weight for its height, low height for its age and cases usually occur when children do not have enough food with all the required nutrients to keep them healthy.Dr Elizabeth Kiboneka, who heads the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit at the hospital, said the unit is overwhelmed by the high numbers of children being treated for malnutrition. The children, she said are referred from different health centres across the country. She said at least 50 per cent of children admitted at the hospital have a nutrition-related problem. But the problem of malnutrition is more manifest at the outpatient clinic where an average of 60 children are treated on each of the two days the clinic is open.
Dr Kiboneka said most of the mothers of children admitted at the unit are between the ages of 17 and 24, with no knowledge of how to properly take care of their babies. This is the case with Ms Komuhindo who is just 18-years-old.
Dr Sarah Kiguli who heads the Paediatric and Child health department at the hospital said malnutrition remains a big child health problem. She explained that malnutrition, malaria and respiratory infections are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality and a high burden of these conditions continue to undermine efforts to achieve social economic development.
The state of population report 2008 that is produced by the Population Secretariat notes that at least 38 per cent of all Ugandan children under the age of five are stunted. Another six per cent are wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height while 16 per cent are under weight-meaning that they have low weight for their age.
The report shows that this poor health status of children is also responsible for the high infant and child mortality rates currently at 76 and 137 deaths for every 1000 live births respectively.
Severe acute malnutrition is the most common cause of death among children under the age of five at Mulago Hospital. “About 40 per cent of the children who are admitted here end up dying because most of them come with many other complications and infections and if interventions are not immediate, they die,” said Dr Kiguli.
At the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit where most of the cases are referred, Dr Kiguli said more than 100 children, with advanced stages of malnutrition are currently admitted.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/905438/-/wxyeei/-/
Ms Grace Komuhindo sat quietly under a tent, holding her one-and-a half year-old baby at the nutrition unit at Mulago National Referral hospital. She was here to get treatment for the baby. Weak, emaciated and frail, with sunken eyes, the baby can neither crawl nor stand. She is severely malnourished and weighs only six kilograms-almost the same weight that some children would have at birth.
Dr Samson Muddu, a pediatrician at the hospital said ideally, Komuhindo’s baby should weigh at least 12 kilogrammes. “This child is suffering from severe acute malnutrition and it is life threatening,” said Dr Muddu.
According to the World Health Organisation, severe acute malnutrition is characterised by a child having low weight for its height, low height for its age and cases usually occur when children do not have enough food with all the required nutrients to keep them healthy.Dr Elizabeth Kiboneka, who heads the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit at the hospital, said the unit is overwhelmed by the high numbers of children being treated for malnutrition. The children, she said are referred from different health centres across the country. She said at least 50 per cent of children admitted at the hospital have a nutrition-related problem. But the problem of malnutrition is more manifest at the outpatient clinic where an average of 60 children are treated on each of the two days the clinic is open.
Dr Kiboneka said most of the mothers of children admitted at the unit are between the ages of 17 and 24, with no knowledge of how to properly take care of their babies. This is the case with Ms Komuhindo who is just 18-years-old.
Dr Sarah Kiguli who heads the Paediatric and Child health department at the hospital said malnutrition remains a big child health problem. She explained that malnutrition, malaria and respiratory infections are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality and a high burden of these conditions continue to undermine efforts to achieve social economic development.
The state of population report 2008 that is produced by the Population Secretariat notes that at least 38 per cent of all Ugandan children under the age of five are stunted. Another six per cent are wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height while 16 per cent are under weight-meaning that they have low weight for their age.
The report shows that this poor health status of children is also responsible for the high infant and child mortality rates currently at 76 and 137 deaths for every 1000 live births respectively.
Severe acute malnutrition is the most common cause of death among children under the age of five at Mulago Hospital. “About 40 per cent of the children who are admitted here end up dying because most of them come with many other complications and infections and if interventions are not immediate, they die,” said Dr Kiguli.
At the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit where most of the cases are referred, Dr Kiguli said more than 100 children, with advanced stages of malnutrition are currently admitted.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/905438/-/wxyeei/-/
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