Promoting the health and well-being of Nigerians through adequate nutrition across the lifecycle is a good way to reduce the impact of the ravaging virus and reduce post-COVID-19 burden, writes ADEKUNLE YUSUF
As coronavirus continues to ravage the world, many dietary experts have recommended strategies for managing patients, with many stressing that adequate nutrition could help to lessen the burden imposed by the pandemic.
The nutritionists have also advised the government that promoting the health and well-being of Nigerians through adequate nutrition across the lifecycle is a good way to reduce the impact of the ravaging virus and reduce post-COVID-19 burden.
Sadly, managing cases with adequate nutrition may be a tall dream, as many households suffer malnutrition crisis.
This means many Nigerians are deficient in the intake of proper or balanced diets, since many factors seem to have connived to deprive many families of healthy choice of foods that can fortify them with major nutrients. One of such essential nutrients is protein, which is widely regarded as the building block of life.
Nutritionists say protein can be found in every cell of the body. That is to say when people do not get adequate amounts of protein from their diet, it leads to protein deficiency, a major cause of malnutrition.
What protein deficiency means
Globally, no fewer than 795 million people do not have enough food to live a healthy life, says a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report.
A breakdown of the report shows that one out of nine people on earth is hungry or malnourished. It said further that 59 million Nigerians are macronutrient deficient and about 45 per cent of deaths among children under five are linked to malnutrition.
Of the figures by FAO, over 13 million Nigerian children are affected by chronic malnutrition or malnourishment. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malnutrition remains the “gravest single threat to the world’s public health”.
At the heart of malnutrition crisis in Nigeria is deficiency in protein consumption. Protein is a macronutrient that is basic for the development, upkeep, and repair of cells in the human body.
Nutritionists have warned that protein deficiency in Nigeria poses not only a major health burden, but also an economic and social burden.
An unmanaged protein deficiency crisis can engender some diseases, particularly kwashiorkor. It can also repress a youngster’s mental and physical advancement, mental hindrance (especially in infants) and cause tension, surliness, and crankiness.
In addition, malnourished women and girls of reproductive age have a high chance of giving birth to stunted babies, which further continues the cycle of malnutrition in future generations.
According to experts, the consequences of stunting in education are also huge. Various studies show that child stunting is likely to impact brain development and impair motor skills.
Stunting in early life is linked to 0.7-grade loss in schooling, a seven-month delay in starting school and between 22 and 45 per cent reduction in lifetime earnings, says UNICEF. Stunted children become less-educated adults, thus making malnutrition a long-term and intergenerational problem.
A protein-deficient country slows economic growth and perpetuates poverty. Indirect losses for the country’s economy are caused by poor cognitive function and reduced school attainment that originate in early childhood due to under nutrition.
In fact, the education gap and consequent lower skill-level of workforce substantially delay the development of countries affected by malnutrition.
That is why it is often said that effects of malnutrition are long-term, since they can trap generations of individuals and communities in the vicious circle of poverty.
While improving nutrition is essential to eradicate poverty and accelerate the growth of low- and middle-income countries, evidence abounds that improved nutrition also acts as an impetus driving economic and social growth.
Nigeria protein deficiency awareness launched
To draw attention to the protein deficiency crisis, a campaign has been launched to emphasise the need for protein in every diet.
The awareness entitled: The Nigeria protein deficiency awareness, named carbohydrate emerged as the most consumed food among Nigerians.
The report, based on findings from a nationwide survey in 2019 to determine the status and dimensions of protein deficiency in Nigeria, revealed that rice tops the list of foods consumed among Nigerians, with 91 per cent.
This was followed by “swallows”, such as eba, pounded yam, fufu and amala, which together got 83 per cent among respondents. The result is that this dietary habit has left millions of households with deficiency in protein.
The Protein Challenge, a protein-pull media campaign supported by the United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and other partners, seeks to create awareness about the prevalence, status and impact of protein deficiency in Nigeria.
A key feature of the launch of the nationwide campaign is the unveiling of the Nigeria Protein Deficiency Report. A key feature of the survey, which was geared towards determining the protein deficiency in Nigeria, also showed that the most important determining factors on the choice of meal consumed in the country are availability at 79 per cent, and affordability at 68 per cent.
The study also identified high cost as a major disincentive for the consumption of most protein food sources.
A further breakdown of the reports also revealed that 51 per cent of respondents do not have adequate protein-rich foods due largely to the relatively high cost.
The report also showed that the most important factors determining the choice of meal items consumed across the country are availability, 79 per cent, and affordability, 68 per cent. High cost was identified as a major disincentive for the consumption of most protein food sources.
Fifty-one per cent of respondents do not have adequate protein-rich foods, due largely to their relatively high cost.
The challenge is that when people do not get adequate amounts of protein from their diet, it leads to protein deficiency, a major cause of malnutrition, especially among children.
In Nigeria, several reports indicate that protein deficiency poses not only a major health problem but also an economic and social burden.
It is the most important risk factor for illness and death, with millions of pregnant women and young children particularly affected.
The goal of the Protein Challenge is to create awareness about the benefits of proteins and encourage Nigerians from walks of life to embrace their regular consumption, regardless of the source! This campaign will focus on the (healthy) importance of regular intake of protein in the diet and work assiduously to contribute to efforts to improve the quality, quantity and consistency of the various proteins consumed across Nigeria.
It will also strive to position soybeans as the most cost-effective protein source that is available, not just for humans, but also as feed for livestock, poultry and aquaculture.
The campaign website www.proteinchallengeng.com is set up as a knowledge platform to promote the consumption of protein in general and soybeans in particular.
It will be the ‘go-to’ place for everyone interested in understanding the importance of protein to good health and well-being.
It warehouses the latest protein, nutrition, and agriculture content, news and blog posts, boasts a wide range of protein and soybean-based recipes and a growing archives of photos and videos.
With the huge number of protein-deficient people in Nigeria, the issue has become a national emergency that requires the input and collaboration of all stakeholders to address.
Since its outbreak in China last December, the pandemic has resulted in mopping up the financial resources of households, communities, states, and nations, as well as disrupting the food system and existing strategies to address high burden of malnutrition.
This requires a massive campaign to improve protein intake – a challenge that may not be solved unless the government enacts policies that can improve the economy and empower citizens to live more productively.
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