Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government said it has put measures in place for the prevention of malnutrition related health challenges, especially, among children and mothers in the state.
The state committee on food and nutrition led by the state commissioner for health, Emmanuel Obi, disclosed this at a press briefing in Enugu.
The Commissioner disclosed that surveys have shown the huge toll taken on children resulting in stunted growth due to improper nutrition.
Obi disclosed that the health ministry had, in collaboration with the office of the first lady of the state embarked on awareness creation among communities in the state.
He said that government had activated all the MDAs involved, to fall in line of providing the needed nutrition education to the people.
“While working towards reversing the stunted children and have nutritionally sound children and mothers in the state, Government has, at different times embarked on the distribution of food and medical materials to the people at designated locations as subsidy to ease the burden of the hardship,” he said.
Also, the permanent secretary, ministry of budget and planning, Clara Eze, said that the ministry was prepared to provide all the necessary ground for the actualisation of the target of nutritionally balanced children across the state.
She encouraged families to insist on cultural food with the potency of providing the needed nutrients.
She, however, said that a lot of sensitisation was required “to achieve this and that is why we call on the media to assist in this regard.”
Giving more insight on the importance of good nutrition, the Executive Secretary, State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, chronicled what the state government had been doing to achieve good nutrition for the people.
“The state government under Governor Peter Mbah believes that providing good nutrition is an investment in the future as nutritionally balanced children are children that move at the same pace with their counterparts elsewhere,” she said.
