One in every three people is malnourished - report

By Carol Natukunda & agencies
 
Uganda is on course in tackling malnutrition among children, a new global report says.

It particularly lists Uganda among the top 32 countries worldwide whose mothers appreciate exclusive breastfeeding of their babies. Exclusive breastfeeding means that an infant receives only breast milk in the first six months.
 
However, the country is yet to achieve all the nutritional targets which were endorsed at the 2012 World Health Assembly.

The targets, which are supposed to 2015 are removal stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), overweight among children under five, exclusive breastfeeding, and anemia in women of reproductive age.

Only Kenya is on course for all five targets. Colombia, Ghana, Vanuatu and Viet Nam have achieved only four targets.
 
Uganda is in the third pool of promising countries along with Algeria, Benin, Bolivia, Burundi, El Salvador, Georgia, Jordan , Liberia, Republic of Moldova, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Pakistan is among the 20 countries that have met only one target.

The Global Nutrition Report aims at building greater commitment to improved nutrition in all countries.

The report states that one in three members of the global population is malnourished, yet the strategies or “high-impact interventions” available to resolve it are not being implemented due to lack of money, skills or political pressure. 

“When one in three of us are held back, we as families, communities and nations cannot move forward,” said Lawrence Haddad, lead author of the study and senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

“This not only jeopardizes the lives of those who are malnourished, but also affects the larger framework for economic growth and sustainable development. Simply put: people cannot get anywhere near their full potential without first overcoming malnutrition.”

Globally, more than 160 million children worldwide under five are too short for their age or stunted, while more than 50 million do not weigh enough for their height.

The report shows that the prevalence of obesity rose in every single country between 2010 and 2014, and one in 12 adults worldwide now has Type 2 diabetes.

In Uganda, 33% percent of children under five are stunted or short for their age and 14 percent are severely stunted, according to the 2011 demographic health survey by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. 5 percent of children under five are wasted (low weight for height) and 2 percent are severely wasted. 

Fourteen percent of children under five are underweight and 3 percent are severely underweight.

Nutrition experts say there is need to sensitize mothers on the right foods to give children, saying is not checked, the results can be daunting.

“Poor nutrition affects the mental development of a child especially those aged less than 5 years. The child will be falling sick recurrently, because the immunity is weak” says Jamiru Mpiima, a nutritionist at Victoria University Healthcare Center.

Mpiima, who is also a dietician at Hoima Hospital, explains stunting if often a result of lack of feeding over an extended period. This may be in areas where there is chronic poverty and long spells of drought or rainfall.
 
 The report also agrees that climate change is complicating global efforts to end malnutrition.

“Even small and seasonal fluctuations in climate can have big impacts on food availability and disease patterns, and these in turn dramatically affect children’s survival and development,” it says.

Mpiima also urges urban mothers to not just stop at breastfeeding but also include fruits, vegetables on the menu.

The health state minister in charge of general duties, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi says the ministry is calling up maternal and child health programmes in Uganda.  “And nutrition is one of the components within these programmes.”