Diary of a witness: Medinat Kanabe looks at malnutrition and how to prevent it

Rekiah’s father brought her to the crèche by 7.30 am. He gave her bag to the nanny and quickly ran out to meet up with his work. Her mother had already gone to her place of work.

Almost immediately her father left, she began to cry. This reporter who was at the crèche to make an enquiry noticed the baby crying. She wasn’t crying like all the other children. It was as though she didn’t have the strength to cry.

She looked very skinny and had pale skin, bloated stomach, and seems smaller than all her crèche mates. Rekiah is three. She looked obviously malnourished.

The nanny began to go through Rekiah’s bag, she brought out her food flask and gave a sigh of relief. “Thank God they have changed her flask to a much bigger one,” she said.

The reporter looked at Rekiah again, and told the nanny that the girl may be hungry. “Why not give her a biscuit or snack from her bag,” I requested.

 The nanny again brought out her bag and looked, she looked very hard as if there was a hidden pocket but she didn’t find any biscuit. Her face suddenly changed and she began to complain.

“What kind of rubbish is this? This girl’s parents don’t give her anything good to the crèche. Madam (me) do you know that whenever they give her the usual two biscuits, they put a very small plate of food for her, and when she finishes the food by 9am which is when we feed them, she stays like that until about 4pm when her father comes to pick her up. Today they gave her a bigger flask without any snack?

“When she just started coming I used to buy her snacks but I stopped because it is against the school ethics. When I complained to her father, he said she has Ribena and cartons of biscuits at home but I have never seen her with Ribena. Why is he lying?”

This reporter looked at Rekiah again, felt pity for her and requested that the nanny gave her the food. As soon as her food flask was brought out, Rekiah stopped crying. She was indeed very hungry.

The nanny fed her with the beans and plantain in the flask and kept the remaining for when she is hungry again.

Then she began to complain again “Everyday, this girl does not eat before she leaves the house and they don’t give her enough food to the crèche. They will not buy her toilet paper or any of the things in the list given.”

Rekiah is one out of the so many malnourished children in Nigeria. According to August 2015 UNICEF report, 1.7 million Nigerian children are severely malnourished and in dire need of prompt service to curtail the menace.

“Nearly a thousand children die of malnutrition-related causes every day- a total of 361, 000 each year. About 10 per cent of the total malnutrition cases are in Nigeria,” the report stated.

Former Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Femi Olugbile says malnutrition is poor or inadequate nourishment over a sustained period, affecting the functioning of the body negatively.

He said it can be caused by poor or inadequate diet, chronic illness, leading to poor appetite or inability to feed.

“You can know a child is malnourished through their appearance and behaviour. They look weak, lean, and have possible skin changes. Emaciation may be conspicuous; specific syndromes such as Kwashiorkor; body organs, including brain may be damaged, especially in very young children; increased vulnerability to other illnesses due to diminished immunity.

 “To prevent malnutrition children should be fed balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, as well as proteins and minerals,” he said.

Nothing that any child can be malnourished either through ignorance, war or torture, he said the only way to prevent malnutrition in children is by giving them balanced diet and general care.

He noted that less privileged children can be healthy if they eat balanced diet from local food items that are not usually expensive.

“Ignorance is a major factor here,” he said.

According to Nemours, an online children health centre, Malnutrition is not the same thing as hunger. People who are chronically malnourished lack the nutrients needed for proper health and development. Someone may be malnourished for a long or short period of time and the condition may be mild or severe. People who are malnourished are more likely to get sick and in severe cases, may even die.

The growth of the child may also be stunted, making them much shorter than average. In developing country, 1 out of four children younger than age five are underweight.

People who don’t get enough food often experience hunger, and over the long term this can lead to malnutrition, but one can become malnourished for reasons that have nothing to do with hunger. Even people who have plenty to eat may be malnourished if they don’t eat foods that provide the right nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

First Published in The Nation of October 18, 2015