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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Health Buzz
For every parent who travels with a small child, having a pack of snacks, sweets and a bottle of juice in their bag is normal.
These foods are arguably the best way to get a child to behave in church, stop them from crying from hunger while on the bus or just keep them occupied while the mother goes about her business before she rushes back home to give the child a proper meal.
And no child can ever say no to a packet of snacks, biscuits, sweets or chocolates.
In fact, they will ask for these foods at any time and not even think about a plate of cooked food.
Some can even refuse to eat a warm bowl of porridge and demand sweets instead.
But according to experts, these snacks have no nutritional value whatsoever and they can actually be the worst food people could be feeding their children.
Good nutrition is the bedrock of child survival and could determine the positive growth of children or the lack thereof.
The 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) indicates that at least 10 percent of the children under the age of five in Zimbabwe are underweight while 3 percent are wasted and another three percent are overweight.
The survey also shows that a significant 23,5 percent of children under five years were stunted.
Underweight is a composite form of undernutrition that can include elements of stunting and wasting. For instance, an underweight child can have a reduced weight for their age due to being too short for their age and/or being too thin for their height.
When a child is said to be overweight, he or she is too heavy for his or her height. This form of malnutrition results from expending too few calories for the amount consumed from food and drinks and increases the risk of non-communicable diseases later in life.
Wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height. Wasting, or acute malnutrition, is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight.
A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible.
Stunting refers to a child who is too short for his or her age. Stunting is the failure to grow both physically and cognitively and is the result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition.
There are several factors that play a major role in whether a child suffers from one or more of these forms of malnutrition.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, there are various determinants of child nutrition, which can be categorised into three broad areas that include immediate determinants, underlying determinants and enabling determinants.
“The immediate determinants of child growth are diets and care and these two actually influence each other. Good diets are driven by adequate foods and adequate feeding and dietary practices to support good nutrition for children.
“Good care is driven by adequate services and adequate services to support good nutrition for children. The underlying determinants are the food, practices and services available to children in their households, communities and environments to enable good nutrition and hence child growth,” the Ministry said in a report.
When it comes to food, it is not just giving a child anything that is available in the house.
Experts say age-appropriate, nutrient-rich foods are what determines good nutrition.
For instance, breastmilk is the only food recommended for the first six months of a baby’s life. From the age of six months to two years, complementary foods may be introduced with safe and palatable drinking water.
It is common knowledge that many mothers tend to introduce some form of porridge to babies earlier because they claim their child is not getting satiated from breastmilk alone and will not stop crying.
What they fail to realise is that introducing solid foods earlier when the baby’s digestion system is not strong enough to handle it can have negative effects later on in life.
For children that have been introduced to complimentary foods, nutritionists say these should be accompanied with adequate food preparation, food consumption and hygiene practices.
The type of food given to children affects their growth in several ways.
For example, feeding a child freezits, sweets, chocolates, biscuits, processed foods and snacks (Mazepe) which are high in sugars and no additional nutritional value may result in limited or excessive growth in children.
Access to certain services also play an important role in the growth of children and these services comprise adequate nutrition, health, sanitation, education and social protection services, with healthy food environments and healthy living environments that prevent disease and promote adequate diets and physical activity for all children.
How can we improve on some of the issues affecting child growth?
Experts say there is definitely need to address the determinants of nutrition and ensuring that an enabling environment is created.
Looking at the lifecycle approach good nutrition starts from conception. There is need for good nutrition for pregnant women for their unborn baby to grow well and prevent low birth weight.
Pregnant women need to eat one extra meal and snack in addition to the recommended three meals and two snacks per day, including iron and folate supplementation issued at health facilities.
There is also need to de-mystify harmful myths and misconceptions on foods which should not be eaten by pregnant women and children.
From birth to six months, mothers must practice exclusive breastfeeding (no other food, water or cooking oil) except medications prescribed by health personnel.
At six months, timely introduction of diverse nutritious foods from locally available animal sources (eggs, meat and milk), legumes (beans, peas, nuts, and seeds), staples (cereals, grains, and tubers), fruits, and vegetables (various indigenous and exotic fruits and vegetables) amounts and textures appropriate to age with continued breastfeeding up to two years or beyond.
People should embrace food fortification and feed their children fortified and bio-fortified foods. Adding multiple micronutrient powders (home fortification to foods for children aged 6-24 months).
Children should also be taken for routine immunisation and be given Vitamin A supplements and deworming to prevent illnesses.
If children fall sick promptly seek health services.
There is need to feed small frequent extra meals and fluids when a child is sick and after recovery for catch up growth.
People should uphold high standards of hygiene within the household such as handwashing at critical moments like after using the toilet, changing diapers, when preparing meals and before feeding child.
Parents may also follow five key rules to safer food which include keeping surfaces and utensils clean, using clean safe water for drinking and food preparation, keeping raw and cooked foods separately, cooking food thoroughly, eating food while hot and keeping food at recommended temperatures.
Where water source is unprotected or unsafe, there is need to clean it using purifying tablets or chemicals or boiling before use.
In addition, the country needs enforcement of laws to regulate foods and food environments to prevent marketing and sale of sugary foods to children.
The United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session in March 2021 declared 2023 the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023).
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is collaborating with partners to unlock the great potential of millets as affordable foods that can contribute to healthy diets and a healthy environment.
UN dedicated 2023 to greater efforts in producing millets given their nutritional properties and resilience in adapting to climate change.
Millets encompass a diverse group of cereals including pearl, proso, foxtail, barnyard, little, kodo, browntop, finger and Guinea millets, as well as fonio, sorghum (or great millet) and teff.
They are an important source of nourishment for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and are deeply rooted in indigenous peoples’ culture and traditions and help guarantee food security in areas where they are culturally relevant.
Zimbabwe has been promoting the growing of traditional grains such as millets as a way to ensure food security at a time the country is being affected by climate change induced food shortages.
The adoption of such foods in homes will ensure that children and adults alike can be guaranteed of healthy alternatives to the usual refined grains they eat.
It also goes to show that good nutrition for children need not be expensive. Families can use the traditional foods available to them to ensure their children get all the necessary nutrients needed for their growth.
A healthy child guarantees a healthy adult who can contribute to the development of his or her nation.
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Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter