Stunted Growth Hinders Kenya’s Economic Advancement

By George Okore

Kenya has rolled out  an ambitious four-year Nutrition Resilience Programme, specifically aimed at  arresting two malnutrition related  conditions- stunted  growth and obesity.

The Kenya Government, European Union and UNICEF funded multi-million Euro community based initiative, aims at preventing child and maternal malnutrition and was officially launched at last week’s National Nutrition Symposium, graced by First lady Margaret Kenyatta.

The programme will reduce impacts of recurrent food shortages and crises, account for many cases of stunted growth, especially within Kenya’s semi-arid and arid lands. On converse, it will tackle obesity, caused by poor eating and habits. The First Lady said nutrition is a major concern and calls for strategic investments in nutrition to defeat stunting growth and obesity, especially among children.

She calls on all stakeholders work together to strengthen health systems in these areas and to empower communities to cope better with impact of drought and other crises. . She called for adoption of healthier practices, such as hospital births, exclusive breastfeeding, diversified and age appropriate infant feeding practices and better hygiene.

According to statistics, many Kenya mothers suffer from under nutrition during pregnancy. We cannot ignore the over 2 million children under the age of five years who are stunted and who cannot reach their full mental and physical potential due to common, manageable conditions with under-nutrition as underlying cause. 

Vitamins and minerals are important but unfortunately children and women are not consuming them regularly as expected, and this leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Breastfeeding is the best food for the baby. However, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life is not practiced by many mothers, and addition of other nutritious foods from six months is not done appropriately.

The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) aims to secure multi-sectoral approach focusing on prevention and treatment of malnutrition. The target population are women and children under the age of 5 in nine counties of Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Mandera, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot.

“This multi-sect oral programme marks a significant shift in Kenya’s approach to tackling malnutrition in the country,” Mrs Kenyatta. “The Government of Kenya welcomes the fact that our partners have made a commitment to work together to help build the resilience of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities.”

She says if not addressed, malnutrition will cost Kenya’s economy over the next 20 years will be an estimated Ksh. 3.2 trillion (US$35 billion) and 527,000 lives will be lost. This translates to 19, 000 child lives will be lost every year due to being underweight. Another 10, 000 child lives will be lost every year due to being vitamin A deficiency while 11,000 child lives will be lost every year due to inadequate child feeding practices.

“Malnutrition is a public health concern in Kenya; it has cost the lives of our children and undermined the healthy physical and cognitive development of thousands of others. Despite Kenya’s economic growth over the past 20 years, we have been unable to reduce our high rates of malnutrition. Recent official data estimates that 2.8 million or one third of Kenyan children under the age of 5 are stunted,” says Kenyan Health Minister James W. Macharia. 

Since joining global Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN) in 2012, Kenya made several achievements to scale up nutrition activities. The country focuses on improving diets for women, children and entire family. Because advanced scientific evidence and knowledge on causes of malnutrition, Kenya needs to re-dedicate its to tackle stunted growth and obesity, two known conditions of poor nutrition.

 “EU is committed to this programme as development is one of our central goals. As well as having detrimental impact on the economy, malnutrition hinders efforts to reduce poverty. In addition, recurrent and prolonged droughts have exposed Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties to repeated food and nutrition crises. This programme will build resilience and shield the economy against these types of shocks,” says EU Chargé d’Affaires Marjaana Sall.

UNICEF Acting Representative Pirkko Heinonen says access to nutrition is a child’s right and it is a right that is in our power to meet. “Malnutrition in children is particularly damaging since the effects are irreversible, resulting in permanent physical and cognitive impairment. This has an impact on the individual’s quality of life and productivity, as well as on the national economy,” she said at the launch

During the symposium under theme Nutrition is key, take up your role, Act now, SUN Movement after Kenya was formally accepted by UN as the 30th country to join SUN.