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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Borno State government and a global health organisation are collaborating with journalists in the state to scale up awareness on good nutrition for infants through exclusive breastfeeding and other nutritional support.
The organisation, Alive & Thrive Nigeria is supporting Borno State government to roll out the Accelerating the Scale of Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition (ASMIYCN) project.
Programme Manager, Borno State Emergency Maternal and Child Intervention Centre (SEMCHIC), Dr. Mala Abdulwahab at a roundtable with health reporters in Maiduguri, Borno State capital sought the assistance of journalists in reaching out to the grassroots on improved nutrition for children.
“It is your understanding of the issues that will help the society embrace exclusive breastfeeding and good nutrition for infant and young ones,” he said.
State coordinator of the organisation, Dr. Bashaar Abdul-Baki, said the roundtable became necessary following the discovery that fewer women gave appropriate breast-milk to their children though they breastfeed them.
“The issue here is that many women breastfeed their infants, but they do not give only breast-milk to them for the first six months as they ought to do and this is not good for the development of the child. This is the challenge here,” Abdul-Baki said.
He also stressed that the first yellowish breast-milk which comes shortly after child-birth was good for the mental development and health growth of the baby urging the society to reject any claim that suggests otherwise.
“Give your child the first milk, it contains cholesterol and it is good for the baby’s health. Let’s have healthy children and young people,” he pleaded.
He said mothers can later introduce nutritional foods to the child after six weeks, for 24 months.
(2 years). He said this exclusive breastfeed helps in the growth of the child till adulthood.
Some of the journalists also suggested nutritional supports for local women during pregnancy and few weeks after delivery to encourage exclusive breastfeeding.
