‘More investment in nutrition crucial’

Health Reporter
HEALTH and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa says more investment is needed to improve the nutrition status of children and women to enhance socio-economic growth in the country. “Malnutrition is not simply the result of having too little food to eat. “Many children living in households with plenty of food to eat are still under-weight or stunted,” said Minister Parirenyatwa while addressing participants at an agro-business, food and nutrition security conference held in Harare recently.

He said the fight against malnutrition should not only be to establish food sufficiency, but also to enhance future socio-economic growth and development of the country.

Recent statistics from the ministry show that 32 percent of children under five years in the country are stunted.
This means that 32 percent of children in Zimbabwe have a low height for age.

Dr Parirenyatwa said children who are stunted were likely to perform poorly in school.
In fact, stunted children are on average nearly 20 percent less literate than those not stunted.

A further 10 percent of children born in Zimbabwe are born with low birth weight.
Although causes of low birth weight are many, mother’s poor nutritional status during pregnancy has been identified as one of the causes.

Anaemia, another measure for malnutrition, accounts for 56,3 percent of children under five years and 28,2 percent of women of child bearing age.

Dr Parirenyatwa said to address these challenges, the country needed simple but high impact strategies either preventive or corrective.
“Zimbabwe continues to face food and nutrition security challenges which, if left unchecked will have a negative impact on national development,” he said.

Dr Parirenyatwa said, for instance, Zimbabwe has made efforts to, by regulation, ensure that all salt for human consumption is iodised.
He, however, said Government was concerned that about 60 percent of households in Zimbabwe are not accessing iodised salt.

“This calls for a commitment from both the industry and Government to effectively monitor the quality of the salt that is being distributed in the country to prevent the Iodine Deficiency Disorders from recurring,” he said.

Iodine is needed to manufacture an important group of hormones called thyroid hormones, without which life is not possible.
A deficiency of iron limits oxygen delivery to cells, resulting in fatigue, poor work performance and decreased immunity and folate helps produce and maintain new cells.

This is especially important during periods of rapid cell division and growth such as infancy and pregnancy.