By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
For a child to grow up and reach his or her full potentials, there is the need to ensure they get the right nutrition.
The Team Lead- Kaduna, Alive & Thrive Project, Christopher Musa, while presenting a paper on day two of the workshop organised for journalists in Kaduna at Zaria.
“Every parent that wants his child to reach full potentials and high intelligence quota, brainy children, you must ensure they eat the right food that gives them good nutrition,” he said.
He explained that while some parents expose themselves to high quality food, their children are limited to food that us not nutritious, exposing them to dangers of malnutrition.
Musa explained that his organization focuses on ensuring that babies get adequate nutrition within the first hour of its life, with the essential colostrum being part of the food.
“A woman should exclusively breastfeed her baby for first six months of life without water. After the first six months, she can add other staple to the food of the baby,” he said.
The Team Lead said that the media was very important to achieving advocacies the world over because their tools can be used to reach the masses, who most times believe whatever they read in the papers, watch on television or listen to on radio.
He cited the example of Vietnam, where the ‘no water campaign’ was used in tackling malnutrition through aggressive and soft sell media messages.
Musa therefore charged journalists to be ready and willing tools in the fight against malnutrition in the state and the country.
