My motherland is a land of river, to swim in the river and hearing murmuring song of river, it always makes me happy.
About Me
Memory
Juel Parvez
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Malnutrition is define to ignorance
ALIBORI DEPARTMENT, Benin, 14 April 2010 – More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition. In the drier, northernmost part of the country, most families harvest crops for both income and their own consumption, feeding their children whatever is available from this yield.
"A young child is weighed at Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department. More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition."
“The main cause of malnutrition is ignorance,” said Linata Gbadamassi, a nurse working in the Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department.“There is not a shortage of food but, rather, mothers don’t use the right ingredients,” she added. “They tend to always give the child plain porridge made of just maize or millet instead of enriching it with soya or other nutritious foods.”
Now this is a problem of child survival’
The problem is intensified by local myths about food, according to Ms. Gbadamassi. For example, many people believe that if their children eat eggs, they will become thieves. Much discussion and counselling will be needed to change these deep-seated beliefs.
Child malnutrition is also rooted in the unequal power relationship between men and women.
“It is the men who buy the meat and will often eat their share first, leaving whatever is left over for the wife and children,” said Ms. Gbadamassi.
“Malnutrition is a phenomenon that starts very early in life, in the womb, and its consequences are irreversible,” noted UNICEF Benin Nutrition Officer Anne-Sophie Le Dain. “What we have here in Benin is a problem of child survival.”
"A young child is weighed at Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department. More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition."
“The main cause of malnutrition is ignorance,” said Linata Gbadamassi, a nurse working in the Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department.“There is not a shortage of food but, rather, mothers don’t use the right ingredients,” she added. “They tend to always give the child plain porridge made of just maize or millet instead of enriching it with soya or other nutritious foods.”
Now this is a problem of child survival’
The problem is intensified by local myths about food, according to Ms. Gbadamassi. For example, many people believe that if their children eat eggs, they will become thieves. Much discussion and counselling will be needed to change these deep-seated beliefs.
Child malnutrition is also rooted in the unequal power relationship between men and women.
“It is the men who buy the meat and will often eat their share first, leaving whatever is left over for the wife and children,” said Ms. Gbadamassi.
“Malnutrition is a phenomenon that starts very early in life, in the womb, and its consequences are irreversible,” noted UNICEF Benin Nutrition Officer Anne-Sophie Le Dain. “What we have here in Benin is a problem of child survival.”
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