Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Agozie Ubesie, has praised the university administration for the introduction of the inaugural lecture series in 1976, saying that it is a huge boost to learning and academic excellence.
Prof Ubesie stated that although the inaugural lecture provided the academic staff the opportunity to present their research works to the university community and the entire world, it gave him the platform to bring to the public discourse the persistent burden of malnutrition in the nation despite years of economic boom.
Presenting the 191st Inaugural Lecture of the university at the Enugu Campus, entitled; “The burden of childhood malnutrition and the bane of a developing economy: Breaking the barriers to ending a cycle”, Ubesie submitted that while the country had grappled with the cycle of under-nutrition for a long time, the rising incidence of over-nutrition in the same nation was rather creating the double and triple burdens of childhood malnutrition in the country.
According to the don, “this is a huge threat to both child health and national socio-economic development, we must act now to address inequity and inequality that perpetuate malnutrition cycle in Nigeria, and the time is now’’.
Prof Ubesie revealed that the negative impact of malnutrition starts in-utero, and may persist the rest of an adult life and even spill over to subsequent generations.
He noted that malnutrition is a cycle process because women who were stunted in childhood tend to have stunted children, thereby creating an inter-generational cycle of poverty and reduced human capital that was difficult to break.
The renowned scholar also disclosed that over 820,000 children’s lives could be saved every year among those under five years, if all children from 0-23 months were optimally breastfed.
He explained that optimal breastfeeding included initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth, breastfeeding exclusively for up to six months of age, and continuing to breastfeed a child up to two years.
Ubesie, who hails from Achi in Enugu State, remarked that since Nigeria was struggling with childhood under-nutrition, and like many developing economies in transition, facing rising incidence of over-nutrition, adequate nutrition was a cost effective intervention that holds the key to preventing a lot of communicable and non-communicable diseases which are connected to national development and growth.
He maintained that as health care paradigm shifts from treatment to preventive, cost effective measures like appropriate breastfeeding practices, maternal and infant nutrition, including adequate complementary diet, can significantly reduce both childhood morbidities and mortalities.
The lecture was attended by members of the academia from within and outside the country, including the Chief Medical Director of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Prof Obinna Onodugo, former Provost, College of Medicine, UNN, Prof Ernest Onwasigwe and the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Enugu Campus, Prof Daniel Nwachukwu, who represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof Charles Igwe.
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