15th October 2019
Own Correspondent
UNICEF has revealed that anecdotal information shows that almost one out of three children taking their PSLE exam this year is stunted a nominal decline from 31% of children in 2006/7. The key focus was therefore on the triple burden of undernutrition, hidden hunger and being overweight.
“If Botswana is to reach the goal of becoming a high income country, it simply will not happen if we don’t dramatically reduce the levels of stunting. So investing in prove interventions to reduce this type of malnutrition is money well spent for the future of the country. Food systems need to ensure that nutritious food is available, even in the far corners of Botswana,” said Julianna Lindsey, UNICEF representative.
She said, “Anaemia, meaning low levels of iron, is also a critical part of nutrition, especially among young youth. One in three women in Botswana are anaemic. When young women are pregnant and anaemic, they often deliver babies that have low birth weight, which signifies a greater risk of infant mortality or future stunting.”
According to UNICEF obesity is slowly becoming a problem in Botswana with 18% of schoolchildren being seriously overweight. The proportion of overweight children in OECD countries is over 20% in every country except Japan. In America, the figure is a staggering 40%.
It was further revealed that breastfeeding is the best source of nutritious for children under the age of 6 years. In Botswana, around one in three children are exclusively breastfed for first six months, in contrast to 65% of children in Uganda and around 40% in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The World Health Organization(WHO) has issued clear guidelines that if a woman and the baby are both taking ARV’s and if the child receives only breastmilk and no formula, the chances of transmitting HIV are minuscule.
According to Government officials the situation surrounding Batswana’s eating habits have changed dramatically over the past twenty years with most people consuming poor quality and undiversified diets of low nutrition value, which are high in fat, sugar and salt.
This is putting the population at risk of malnutrition and dietary related non-communicable diseases.
“With global emphasis to step up efforts on legislation on nutrition and food systems. The Ministry is committed to enhancing food and nutrition regulatory frameworks. Existing regulation include: The Public Health Act, the Food Control, Act and their subsidiary regulations such as the Food Grade Salt Regulations, regulation on Marketing of Foods for Infants Young Children, Regulation on Labelling of Pre Packaged Foods Regulations,” said Ruth Maporisa, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health and Wellness.
She said, “The Midterm of the NDP 11 will consider introduction of sugar tax for sugar sweetened beverages, taxation of imports of unhealthy foods and tax rebates for key fruits and vegetables.”
