About 25.8 percent of children under the age of two in Solwezi district, Northwestern Province are reported to have stunted growth while 9.6 percent are underweight.
This is according to results of the baseline survey conducted in the district by the National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2019.
Northwestern Province Nutrition Coordinator, Kalumba Chishipula, who confirmed the findings to ZANIS in Solwezi yesterday, said 3.3 percent of children under two years have low weight for their height (wasting).
Mr Chishipula said the commission is working with various stakeholders to change the nutrition status of the district under the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) which has recently been rolled out to Solwezi district.
“The NFNC with support from USAID last year (2019) conducted a baseline survey where we found that 25.8 percent of children under two years are stunted, 9.6 percent are underweight and 3.3 percent are wasting or have low weight for their height in Solwezi district.
“The nutrition status does not look good but with the coming of SUN phase II, we expect the nutrition status to change in the district,” Mr Chishipula said.
He said the district is in the process of developing a plan of activities to be conducted from October to December 2020 and January to December 2021.
“For Solwezi, our focus basically is to start forming Ward Nutrition Coordinating Committees at sub district level and also capacity building them in different components of the programme because under the Most Critical Days Programme, we have strategic objectives that we are looking at,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Food and Nutrition Commission Acting Deputy Executive Director, Freddie Mubanga said the Most Critical Days Programme has now been rolled out to 36 districts from the previous 14.
Mr Mubanga said phase II of the programme aims at promoting holistic and simultaneous delivery of nutrition and nutrition related services to the target beneficiaries to achieve greater impact.
He said adolescent girls are now part of the target population under phase II of the programme as they are becoming mothers at a tender age thereby, negatively impacting on delivery of nutrition services.
And speaking when she opened a district nutrition coordinating committee planning meeting, for scaling up nutrition-first one thousand critical days programme phase II, Solwezi District Commissioner, Rosemary Kamalonga called for implementable plans that will effectively contribute to the reduction of stunting levels through better nutrition.
Ms Kamalonga said there is a need to come up with plans that will speak to the nutrition needs of the communities, adding that line ministries should mainstream specific and sensitive nutrition interventions in their sector priorities.
“It is imperative that we put up plans at district level that will effectively contribute to stunting reduction through better nutrition. Better nutrition is related to improved infant, child, adolescent and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth among other benefits,” she said.
The District Commissioner reiterated the government’s commitment towards fighting all forms of malnutrition and ensuring that stunting ceases to be a public health concern.
Because their mothers are children too.
This is already on the president’s radar. I have ensured to push these results to him as I take such things personally because I too came from poverty.
This makes sad reading!! I pray that the
Government through thd relevant ministry intervenes urgently, we need our children to be alive. Stories like this really touch my heart, as a mother I try to teach my child to avoid wasting and throwing away food because there are other kids out there without a meal.