Kenya given thumbs up on nutrition status

The Global Nutrition Report 2015, released yesterday (Tuesday, September 22) in New York City, US shows that one in three people globally is malnourished, and the problem exists in every country on the planet.

Nutrition lobbyists in Kenya however, have a reason to smile after the country was declared the only one in the world with steady improvements on every battlefront in the war against malnutrition.

Healthy children enjoy a plate of ugali and sukuma. (PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD)

Grace Gitau, a nutritionist who also serves as the national coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance National Secretariat in Kenya, believes that Kenya needs to assess everything it has done “to reach where we are and to improve even further.”

The report however, points to glaring problems that if not acted upon may further plunder the state of World health.

Childhood stunting and wasting remain serious problems. More than 160 million children under five worldwide are too short for their age or stunted, while more than 50 million do not weigh enough for their height or are wasted.

Although countries are increasingly meeting goals for combating stunting and wasting, adult obesity — another form of malnutrition — is growing.

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

“When one in three of us is 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 (IFPRI).

According to the report, malnutrition can be tamed and investing in improved nutrition will have economic returns.

Countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria have recorded positive nutrition gains only among a minority group of children.

Only Kenya is on course for all five World Health Assembly targets on nutrition. Four countries - Colombia, Ghana, Vanuatu and Vietnam - are on course for four targets. Pakistan, where between 43 and 48 per cent of children under five are not stunted or wasted, is among the 20 countries that have met only one target.

The report took cognizance of the fact that climate change weighs greatly against the gains made as the world races to ensure proper nutrition in every country.

The example offered is that of India, where babies born in November and December are taller on average at three years of age than those born in April through September.

“There is urgent need for implementing critical nutrition actions in countries with the greatest need,” said Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, one of the authors, and founding director of the Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Kyzhan University.

The report urges leaders to keep nutrition policy at the forefront of their decision-making. Nutrition, according to Grace, is crucial, especially in the first 1000 days (from conception up to 2 years) of a child.

The timing of the report is particularly important as United Nations member states convene to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals later this month.

It urges leaders to keep nutrition policy at the forefront of their decision-making.