Experts urge protein centred nutrition policy

Nutrition experts have called on government and other stakeholders to implement a protein-centred national nutrition policy. They made the call during a protein challenge webinar organised by Mediacraft Associates. They said doing so would help address the protein deficiency amongst Nigerians. Dr Beatrice Oganah-Ikujenyo, a nutritionist and chief lecturer, Department of Home Economics, Adeniran Ogunsanya […]

Nutrition experts have called on government and other stakeholders to implement a protein-centred national nutrition policy.

They made the call during a protein challenge webinar organised by Mediacraft Associates. They said doing so would help address the protein deficiency amongst Nigerians.

Dr Beatrice Oganah-Ikujenyo, a nutritionist and chief lecturer, Department of Home Economics, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Lagos said a Food and Nutrition policy (FNP) is a framework designed by government to solve the problems of malnutrition and food and nutrition insecurity in Nigeria.

She said some barriers to effective Food and Nutrition Policy (FNP) implementation are, view of nutrition as a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary issue, dearth of  nutritionists in the ministries presently saddled with implementing food and nutrition policies, and encroachment of nutrition related professionals in nutrition policy matters.

The nutrition expert said the key to addressing the problems of malnutrition in the long run is dietary diversification. “The more the variety of foods in meals consumed, the better the chances of meeting our daily nutrient needs for optimum health and wellbeing,” she added.

Dr. Adepeju Adeniran, a public health physician said nutritional policies are often created and implemented as planning tools to ensure population health optimization, or created as a response to a population’s health need.

She said the health effects of poor protein consumption include poor growth and development in children, and negative effects on foetal development in pregnant women.

She said, “Many argue that both stunting, chronic anaemia and protein energy malnutrition figures in children and underdevelopment in adult females can be attributed to the poor diet of Nigerians, which includes poor inclusion of protein sources.”

She advised that public knowledge and education about the benefits of protein should not be limited to school education and theory alone and that the head of the household and key nutrition decision makers should be targeted at the point of their interface to emphasize education on the benefits of protein consumption and the key risks in protein deficiency.