Fifty schools to benefit from Nutrition Friendly Schools Initiative

By Seth Danquah, GNA 

Takoradi, March 05, GNA - School children aged between 4 and 15 years in  about 50 schools in 12 districts in the Western Region are to benefit from a "Nutrition Friendly Schools Initiative"  (NFSI) spearheaded by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The UNICEF funded initiative is to support children suffering from malnourishment and other nutrition-related health conditions to ensure the holistic health of the young growing population of the country.

Mr Baba Isaac Anagi, Western Regional Nutrition Officer speaking at a day’s stakeholders’ meeting on the “Nutrition-Friendly Schools Programme” in Takoradi said a significant number of children were classified as malnourished despite the region’s categorization as a bread basket of the country.

This, he said came with its attendant problems of poor school attendance, poor brain development and the adoption of unhealthy eating patterns that affect the child’s academic and biological outcomes in later life.

He explained that the programme was expected to come up with modalities that would cover areas of positive eating routines, physical exercises, safe environments, water and sanitation.

Mr Anagi said the programme objectives were to reduce or prevent child under nutrition (stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies); reduce or prevent childhood overweight or obesity; foster healthy diet and lifestyle habits, educate children, improve knowledge about healthy diet and lifestyle habits.

He explained that healthy dietary intake and improved physical activity during childhood and adolescence also reduced the risk of immediate nutrition-related health problems of primary concern to school children under-nutrition, over-nutrition including obesity and dental caries.

Nana Kofi Abuna V, Chief of Essipon said it was important for stakeholders to pay serious attention to the health issues of children because education delivery could be optimal if health issues were not ignored by stakeholders but addressed thoroughly.

She noted that when school children were given right nutritional meals in schools, it would go a long way to keep them in good health for the academic exertion required of them and urged all stakeholders to ensure that schools were profound nutrition-conscious centres for the benefit of children.

She also urged stakeholders in the educational sector to pay attention to schools’ environment by ensuring that it was kept clean at all times to prevent diseases.

The participants were optimistic that the Nutrition Friendly School Initiative would be scaled up to cover other deserving districts if pilot phase resulted in positive gains.

GNA

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