Adequate nutrition, safe path to preventing disabilities in kids

Israel Nwanyah was born three months after his father’s death and raised by a lone mother. “We feed from hand to mouth. Anytime a child is hungry, I remember myself and I feel for that child because I know what it is to be hungry.”A recent study by Child Rights Advocacy among junior secondary school […]

Israel Nwanyah was born three months after his father’s death and raised by a lone mother. “We feed from hand to mouth. Anytime a child is hungry, I remember myself and I feel for that child because I know what it is to be hungry.”
A recent study by Child Rights Advocacy among junior secondary school students in Gwagwalada, a suburb of Nigeria’s capital, found six in 10 children do not eat breakfast before attending school, and pointed to difficulties with learning and cognitive growth.
Evidence has linked a number of abnormalities a child can suffer if good nutrition is not given especially when a child is in the womb during the stages of brain and nerves development.
One, is the concern that foetal under-nutrition could account for higher prevalence of brain abnormalities at two years among children, with a lack of nutrients causing brain cells to shrink.
Its effect extends into the first month of life and hampers other developments that should occur. It also extends onto educational development.
 
The devastating effects of malnutrition
The recent report of the “State of The World’s Children 2013”, which focused on “Children with Disabilities”, revealed that , “insufficient food or a poorly balanced diet short of certain vitamins and minerals (Iodine, vitamin A, Iron and Zinc) can leave infants and children vulnerable to specific conditions or a host of infections that can lead to physical, sensory or intellectual disabilities”.
According to the report early childhood stunting is caused by poor nutrition and diarrhoea which in turn result in, “poor cognitive and educational performance, which last the rest of the child’s life”.
It added that malnutrition in mothers can lead to a number of preventable childhood disabilities saying, “42% of pregnant women in low middle income countries are anaemic and most suffer iron deficiency anaemic.
“it is one of the most prevalent causes of disability in the world and therefore a  serious global public health problem. Malnutrition in lactating mothers can also contribute to poorer infant health, increasing the risk of diseases that can cause disability”.
 
Consequences for a kid with disability
Challenges for children with disabilities can be quite enormous, as the report states that infant with cleft palate may not be able to breast feed or consume food effectively, while kids with cerebral palsy may have difficulty chewing or swallowing.
Some may need specific diets or increased calories to maintain a healthy weight.
The report also noted that unfortunately most kids with disability are hidden due to stigma and discrimination and often times are not fed well, denied food or provided with less nutritious food than their healthy siblings”.  
 
Cost implications for Nigeria
The World Bank projects nutrition programmes could cost Nigeria around $700 million each year, and the global cost is put at $12 billion annually.
This revelation came as the 2013 Lancet Nutrition series noted that malnutrition contributed up to 53%-and 60%, according to latest figures-of deaths of children under age five in Nigeria.
At least 10% of the global malnutrition burden is in Nigeria, where 10.9 million are wasted and up to 3.5 million children suffer severe acute malnutrition.
The series, the second on nutrition since 2008, noted that child nutrition in the first 1,000 days is crucial to cognitive, educational and economic growth.
“These are things we have known in the past, but this series confirms that we have a burden on our hands,” said Beatrice Eluaka, national adviser for Save the Children, which coordinates women-related civil society groups under SUN.
“We are trying to get the coordination right,” said Dr David Olayemi, a nutrition adviser for the charity.
He said that a major concern is that “Nigeria has not prioritised nutrition as it ought to be”.
A pressing problem is the understanding of nutrition from early ages up to age two when infants should depend solely on breast milk. “Most mothers do not put children to breast early enough,” says Olayemi.
Surveys indicate prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding has dropped from 17% to 12% between 2003 and 2008.
Abimbola Williams, a newborn and child health adviser for the group, says nutrition is not being seen as an issue anymore-at least not when it comes to national visions to get into the league of 20 most powerful countries by 2020.
“Do we think we can get there if our children are no longer intelligent, productive adults?” she asked.