Food, hunger and the nutrition question on December 06, 2014 / in Health 1:46 am / Comments “It is not the shame of the elephant if it starves to death in the forest; it is the shame of the forest.” The message of this well known African proverb becomes apparent whenever the problem of global hunger is discussed. In the first place, the idea of an elephant starving to death in the forest is unthinkable because the grass that the elephant subsists on is the most abundant material in the forest. But the there is hunger in the land and proverbs are infallible. From dawn till dusk, from cradle to grave, the world is full of hungry people. Ask me how I know and I’ll tell you that for every nine persons encountered anywhere at any point in time, at least one person is not getting enough food to eat in order to be healthy and to lead an active, productive life. Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of starvation. Usually it is a child under the age of 5. In this particular environment, the plight of the hungry is quite bad —arguably worse than global average. Unarguably, hunger and its alter ego —malnutrition— constitute the No.1 risk to health. The economic, social, health and overall developmental impact of hunger is almost unquantifiable, far greater than HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other Non Communicable Diseases, NCDs, combined. Hunger is a vicious cycle. The hungry person is almost always malnourished while the malnourished person is perpetually hungry. People are utilising euphemisms such as “ 101”, “011”, “001”or “010” not to survive, but simply to exist. Paradox On close examination, however, the problem of hunger is a huge paradox. There is more than enough food available today to feed the over seven billion hungry mouths that populate the earth, yet millions go to bed at night famished and wake up the following morning even more ravenous. Hunger is not only totally avoidable and completely preventable, but also entirely resolvable, yet, from the cradle to the grave, hundreds of millions are underfed and malnourished. It is an even more worrisome scenario because mankind is endowed with adequate requisite knowledge, tools and policies (but perhaps not enough political will) to solve the hydra-headed problem of hunger and malnutrition. Addressing equity One of the challenges of nutrition is addressing equity. How can the most disadvantaged groups be reached with key interventions to prevent and treat malnutrition? How should the problem of micronutrient data quality, better agriculture systems among others be attained? How can nutrition be adopted into the post 2015 MGD-agenda? Penultimate week, the University of Ibadan Association of Nutrition Science Students, in collaboration with Coca Cola Nigeria, held a nutrition symposium with the theme “Prioritising Nutrition in The Post-MDG Framework: Roles and Responsibilities of Various Stakeholders in Nigeria”. The UI ANSS gathered with key stakeholders from the food and beverage industry, academia, government, media and the general community, to forge the way forward for the fortunes of nutritional health in the country. It was a thought-provoking gathering, not just because of the importance of nutrition as a basic and inalienable aspect of life, but primarily because food, or more appropriately, good nutrition, is fundamental to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. Forgotten MDG In several respects, nutrition is described as the “forgotten” or “lost” MDG. Nutrition is only “implied” and not specifically mentioned in MDG 1 which aims at “eradicating extreme poverty and hunger”. Poverty drives hunger and hunger perpetuates poverty. The key targets of MDG 1 even fail to accredit nutrition because the objective is only to “reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day” and “reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger”. Part of the essence of the symposium was to “remember” or “find” nutrition and establish its role in the MDGs. In view of this, speakers at a panel discussion during the Coca Cola session of the symposium identified the need for nutrition education towards resolving malnutrition as the foundation for progress and development, including health and education. Re-categorisation In a presentation entitled: “Promoting Health, Wellness and Disease Prevention” one of the panellists, Mr. Fred Chiazor, who is the Business Unit Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Director, Coca Cola Central, East and West Africa, identified what he described as “The Golden Triangle” that includes government, the food and beverage industry and the university community. “Nutrition is priority and we need to determine what our nutritional goal is. Let us re-categorise the strategies through which vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and under- fives can be reached with effective nutrition education messages. As part of its resolutions, the panel noted that the nutrition challenge must be tackled adequately. “Investing in good nutrition increases productivity and creates economic opportunities. Solving hunger is also a contribution to peace and stability. All of us – citizens, employers, corporate leaders and governments must work together to end hunger and stop malnutrition.” Arguing the point, a Nutritional Biochemist and Researcher at the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Dr. Batholomew Brai, said the level of involvement in nutrition by government at the top could be better. “There are too many gaps. We need to work at putting nutrition on the public agenda in Nigeria. Nutrition is actually the medicare for the future and must be accepted as such.” Building partnerships Also speaking, Coca Cola Nigeria’s Mr.Emeka Mba, argued that the evocative and effective power of partnerships for sustainable development cannot be overemphasised. “Through the phraseology of the concept of the Golden Triangle, which speaks to the interaction between Government, Business and the Civil society groups towards addressing a myriad of socio-economic issues in society.” He said the company’s active and healthy living programmes are an integral component embedded with activities that focus on the long term health and wellness of the community through nutrition education and physical activities. “ What is our role as nutritionists, pondered Aniwura, one of the two practicing interns on the panel and a first class graduate from the tertiary institution’s Department of Nutrition. “Are we propagating the tenets of nutrition?” Her colleague, Ugochukwu, also a first class graduate, couldn’t agree more. “As nutritionists, we must practice what we preach,” she avowed. “Nutrition education demands a multi-sectoral approach and the way to go is to form build networks and form partnerships.” Coca Cola Nigeria created a framework for dialogic intercourse between Aniwura, Ugochukwu and other health experts to engage in an interactive panel on how to achieve the MDGs in relation to nutrition education. “It is about inspiring the next generation of experts in Nutrition and health to advance the course of nutrition education and awareness in Nigeria,” Mba asserted.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 08:51:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015