Sixty
per cent of children aged one to five years in Lindi Region suffer
acute malnutrition, stunting them in height and adversely affecting
their bodies’ internal organs.
The Project Manager of the Partnership for Nutrition in Tanzania (PANITA) Joseph Mugyabuso said the region’s children suffer various diseases because they lack immunity, which is due to malnutrition.
He told reporters in Bagamoyo on Friday that Dodoma, Iringa and Shinyanga are among regions with high rates of malnutrition of 60 per cent. Tanzania’s biggest challenge is poor diet due to poverty of many families that makes children under the age of five years to be stunted, Mugyabuso added.
“Many foodstuffs produced do not contain nutrients, which is the cause of high levels of malnourished children,” he said.
Out of 10 children aged five years in Tanzania, four are stunted because of inadequate nutrition, Mugyabuso noted.
He said despite high rate of poor nutrition in the country, anemia rates among women and children are as high as 77 per cent.
The project manager said despite government efforts to start food fortification project for children there is still great need to reduce the problem.
Meanwhile, Magdalena Joseph of Tabata in the city said malnutrition among children will continue unless the government sets up a policy that requires companies to produce proper foodstuffs to eliminate deaths from underfeeding.
On the other hand Mwajuma Mohamed of Bagamoyo said many food manufacturers are pre-occupied by profit. “I mix different grains that contain nutrients if I want to have nutritious food for my child,” she said.
Last June 17, at Nyarugusu Refugee Camps, Kigoma, children admitted with severe acute malnutrition were given specialised feeding and therapeutic care to help rehabilitate them.
Tanzania is estimated to have more than 2.7 million children under five years of age who are stunted.
More than 430,000 children in this group suffer acute malnutrition and out of them more than 100,000 experience severe malnutrition and have high risk of dying if there is no appropriate intervention.
The Project Manager of the Partnership for Nutrition in Tanzania (PANITA) Joseph Mugyabuso said the region’s children suffer various diseases because they lack immunity, which is due to malnutrition.
He told reporters in Bagamoyo on Friday that Dodoma, Iringa and Shinyanga are among regions with high rates of malnutrition of 60 per cent. Tanzania’s biggest challenge is poor diet due to poverty of many families that makes children under the age of five years to be stunted, Mugyabuso added.
“Many foodstuffs produced do not contain nutrients, which is the cause of high levels of malnourished children,” he said.
Out of 10 children aged five years in Tanzania, four are stunted because of inadequate nutrition, Mugyabuso noted.
He said despite high rate of poor nutrition in the country, anemia rates among women and children are as high as 77 per cent.
The project manager said despite government efforts to start food fortification project for children there is still great need to reduce the problem.
Meanwhile, Magdalena Joseph of Tabata in the city said malnutrition among children will continue unless the government sets up a policy that requires companies to produce proper foodstuffs to eliminate deaths from underfeeding.
On the other hand Mwajuma Mohamed of Bagamoyo said many food manufacturers are pre-occupied by profit. “I mix different grains that contain nutrients if I want to have nutritious food for my child,” she said.
Last June 17, at Nyarugusu Refugee Camps, Kigoma, children admitted with severe acute malnutrition were given specialised feeding and therapeutic care to help rehabilitate them.
Tanzania is estimated to have more than 2.7 million children under five years of age who are stunted.
More than 430,000 children in this group suffer acute malnutrition and out of them more than 100,000 experience severe malnutrition and have high risk of dying if there is no appropriate intervention.
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