Health experts and stakeholders have emphasized the importance of proper nutrition in promoting a healthy society, highlighting ignorance, not poverty, as the root cause of malnutrition.
Speaking during the launch of the Nutrition Support Centre (NSC) at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Dr. Titilayo Falade of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) stressed the economic and social toll of malnutrition, saying, “It affects health, raises medical costs, and impacts GDP.”
Experts attributed the root cause of malnutrition among children to poverty.
Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, represented by Bolaji Ayoola, noted that healthy mothers are key to healthy families and nations.
“When a pregnant mother eats healthy she will give birth healthy. A healthy baby constitutes a healthy family and a healthy nation. It is not actually poverty that causes malnutrition but ignorance,” Ayoola stated.
Kemi Jeje, the founder of Community Pot, said the project aims to tackle malnutrition through education and support.
“If we invest in nutrition, health costs will drop,” she said.
The initiative plans to establish 20,000 centres nationwide to provide nourishment for 10 million toddlers.
Dr. Folusho Balogun, a pediatrician at UCH, emphasized that the NSC is a critical step toward reducing malnutrition and ensuring healthier futures for Nigerian children.
Experts called for collaboration among stakeholders to make proper nutrition accessible and reduce malnutrition to zero.
