Nigerians have been advised to avoid consuming excess seasoning cubes, stressing that it is dangerous to health. A dietician and Principal Agriculture Officer, Home Economics Division, Kwara Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hajia Jemila Adamu, stated this during a media briefing in Ilorin on Friday. The press conference, which was attended by other stakeholders across the three Senatorial Districts, was to enlighten the public on malnutrition, dietary habits, and locally available recipes.
According to the dietician, “Many people rely too much on seasoning cubes to garnish their meals, which may have negative consequences on their health. “For a healthy living, you can make use of locust beans, ginger, and garlic to supplement seasoning cubes. “Our grandmothers then will rather add just one cube or half and their soup will taste nice and they live longer because they don’t eat the junk we consume in this present generation.”
Adamu also condemned too much consumption of snacks and advised the public to instead, eat quality breakfast and take their lunch to work. “Maintain a dietary habit by eating quality foods rather than relying on street snacks daily,” she advised. The expert also urged the public to key into home gardening to produce fresh foods to support a healthy meal at home, thereby saving money. She said that vegetables, okra, tomatoes, pepper, and spinach among others could be grown in the backyard garden and would form part of a balanced diet for the family.
According to her, Kwara is blessed with a variety of foods such as rice, millet, potatoes, sorghum, cassava, groundnut, fish, and yam among others. “These food items should form part of our daily meals and a healthy and nutritious well-being. “Parents should also create time to cook for their family, rather than buying junk foods to feed their children. “Provide foods that are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrates, water, and other food items for a balanced diet for your children,” she further advised. Adamu commended the Kwara government for distributing fertilizers to farmers in the state to boost food production.
Also speaking, Dr Habbeb Lawal, Project Manager, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria project, urged parents to save their children from stunted growth. He advised mothers to optimally breastfeed their children and stop relying on breast milk substitutes and other baby formula to feed their children. According to him, breastfeeding is a sure way of preventing malnutrition and promoting the cognitive and optimal development of a child.
The project manager advocated for a multi-sectorial approach to tackling the scourge of malnutrition, stressing the need for relevant stakeholders to join the campaign against malnutrition in the state. He attributed the increasing rate of malnutrition in the country to a lack of information and awareness among parents and caregivers. “We need to communicate and create the needed awareness among parents and caregivers in both urban and rural areas on the importance of proper feeding and balanced diet,” he said.
