Eastern province Medical Officer Kennedy Malama says the area still records the highest number of stunted children between six (6) months to 59 months of age.
Dr Malama stated that 50 percent of the children in the province are stunted saying this represents 45 percent of the total population of stunted children in the country.
He was briefing a team from United Nations on Food Security and Nutrition at a meeting held in the Provincial administration’s conference room in Chipata yesterday.
Dr Malama noted that indicators on acute malnutrition stand at 3.6 percent.
He stated that there is need to expedite the scaling up of nutrition activities if further social and health gains targeting the mother and child are to be realized in the province.
He explained that the first 1000 days are crucial in the growth of a child hence the promotion of some key activities being implemented in the province in coordination with other partners to ensure pregnancy, child birth, post natal care guidelines are available.
He also stated that nutritional guidelines for Care and Support of people living with HIV/AIDS are available and in use since 2004 aimed at promoting of food and nutrition to mitigating HIV and AIDS through various measures such as Nutrition assessment, Counselling and Support.
And Eastern Provincial Agriculture Coordinator Obvious Kabinda said development of biological safe methods (Aflasafe) maize and groundnuts are underway aimed at enabling farmers increase their stake on the market.
Dr Kabinda said dissemination of pro vitamin A maize in Eastern province project seeks to reduce the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among targeted communities by making available nutritious maize products targeting 12,000 household in the region.
“This area aims at improving the nutrition as well as income status of farmers and their families, targeting 5,000 households in Eastern and Central provinces,’ he added.
And United Nations Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Food Security and Nutrition, David stated that his team was in the region to appreciate how nutritional measures are applied in all sectors.
Mr Nabarro said that the interest was how nutrition interventions are related in communities with regard to children and people with HIV/AIDS
ZANIS
Stupid Journalist, how can 50% children being stunted in eastern province represent 45% of all children in the country?
You the one who is stupd
I would rather listen to Dr Malama than Tese zono
Another mental handicapped zambian
Thanks
Calm down Tese Zono, we are using a branch of math called statistics. To spell it out in English for you: out of every 100 children born in Eastern province, 50 of them will be stunted. And out of every 100 stunted children in Zambia, 45 will be from Eastern Province. In other words, out of every 100 stunted children in Zambia, 45 of them will bear names such as Toolbox Mwale, Eclipse Banda, Galamukani Njovu, Dyakani Mbuzi, in that direction. Just statistics, nothing personal.
50% of children in eastern province can not represent 45% of stunted children in the whole of the Zambian population. Mushota and Accugrade, you probbaly both have monkey brains and will not be able to digest that fact.
Tese Zono, math is math, we are not dealing with rhetoric here. What is so difficult to understand here? Why are you scared of numbers? This is a serious issue which requires immediate intervention. It tells you that other provinces are centuries ahead of Eastern Province in terms of nutrition. What brains do you have? Rat brains?
According to official statistics from the National Food and Nutrition Commission, the distribution of stunting is as follows;
Luapula=56%
Central=53%
Eastern=50%
Northern, CB, NWP=44%
Lusaka=37%
Southern, West=36%
National average=45%
So there is no way that 50% of the national average can come from Eastern province alone. Either Dr Malama or the reporter got it wrong. Tese Zono wins by a knockout
I hope that moron Accugrade reads what Peter Njobvu has posted. Why do morons pretend to understand mathematics when clearly the dont?
There isn’t enough food.
Those who can afford food for their children feed them processed food from Pick & Pay!
Learn the basics of nutrition for growing children. I see now everyone has airbrushed birthday cake with synthetic colors, hope you have health care for all the diseases you are inviting by eating this awful lab made foods and preservatives! Lwenu!
Peter Njobvu has got statistics he is referring to. The pathetic moron Tese Zono has nothing to use to augment his argument. What Peter has not indicated is which year the report he was referring to was published. Some of us who handle statistics on a daily basis know very well that most government statistics are 5 – 10 years old. If you find statistics which are a year old, you are lucky. Dr. Malama was not quoting such reports; he was looking at the current statistics which may not be in the public domain yet. But I know that morons and dimwits like Tese are too opinionated and incapacitated to understand that. Don’t just say “it can’t, it can’t ” without giving reasons why you think that way.
Circumcise the children!!! Some women think of foreskins as “unclean” and “unhealthy”
iwe kale elyo nkumwene. asking question and answering yourself. genital mutilation is wrong. you can just be cutting foreskins of children depriving them of ever enjoying sexual intercourse to its fullest. All in the name of HIV/AIDS prevention. Ok why dont you just cut off womens breasts to reduce the chances of getting breast cancer or their genitals to prevent christine kaseba disease a.k.a cervical cancer. ati a circumcised and uncircumcised children were left in the wild without taking baths,then the circumcised ones genital hygiene will be better or outlast the uncircumcised one. kwisa ubufi. dont you know that as long as he is urinating the inner skin of the uncircumcised child is kept clean. thats nature my friend,all taken care of. remember urine is sterile.
Difficult to believe these statistics my boss Dr. Malama. Recheck your record
MHSRIP
MHSRIP may the Lord be with the family and comfort them
tese zone how has a clear statement confuse you. just go thru it slowly. it says 50% of kids in EP are stunted and that makes up 45% of all stunted under 5 kids in zambia.
but from personal xperience i think there is more stunting in northern and luapula provinces than anywhere else. when ur in kasama the average adult height is 1.5m. this i can atribute to tute diet ( bwali tute, umunani tute leaves )
Funny, but you are far more intelligent than that dimwit Tese Zono!
Whats happening to our eastern promise? We can’t have stunted children from our region because thats where all Zambia’s wisemen have come from.
Nothing new here , the shortest men are from eastern province, how do u expect ka short man to to produce a tall child? Please inter marry. Chiluba was stunted bt he was driving VERA