The United Nations Children’s Fund has partnered with the Adamawa government, North East Nigeria, to engage about 6,525 caregivers to promote nutrition benefits in 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
This was disclosed by the Nutrition Officer, Adamawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency Mr Wulunga Alfred, to the News Agency of Nigeria in Yola on Sunday.
He explained that the caregivers are meant to provide services on how to use Mit Arm Upper Circumference tape to measure the risk level of children with malnutrition.
According to Alfred, the tape was calibrated in colours green, yellow and red to connote negative, warning and danger, respectively. The Nutrition Officer said that the effort had helped to reduce the number of malnourished children in the state.
Alfred encouraged mothers to understand the effects of poor diets on their children to prevent malnutrition, stressing that poor diets affect the immunity of children, thus exposing them to diseases, especially malnutrition.
He said, “When a child is growing, essential nutrients are vital for healthy growth, especially for successful optimal stage. “Above all, parents should ensure they attend antenatal clinics for guidance and other services that will help both mother and the child.” The nutrition officer advised mothers to engage in exclusive breastfeeding after delivery, urging them to provide supplementary feeding when the child reaches six months.
According to him, apart from the caregivers, about 1,800 Community Health Influencers Promoters, were trained and deployed to provide various services.
“They go house-to-house to counsel mothers and refer complicated issues to hospitals. By so doing, we are reducing the cases of malnutrition among other cases affecting women and children in the state,” he added.
