Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke-Senior Reporter
As many families struggle to access nutritious food due to the El Niño induced drought, community health workers are going door-to-door encouraging healthy eating habits using locally produced food that is readily available, or can be grown on ordinary vegetable patches.
This comes at a time when Zimbabwe continues to grapple with significant rates of malnutrition, particularly stunting, which impairs a child’s physical and cognitive development.
Recent data from the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) reveals that 27 percent of children under five years old are stunted.
Matabeleland South province bears the biggest burden with 33 percent of the children in this age group being stunted, followed by Manicaland (31 percent), Mashonaland Central (30 percent) and Midlands and Mashonaland East both at 27 percent. Provinces with lower rates of stunting are Harare (26 percent), Masvingo (25 percent), Mashonaland West (24 percent), Matabeleland North (23 percent) and Bulawayo (22 percent).
In Gwanda, community health workers are spearheading the fight against malnutrition by educating the public on the importance of feeding children locally available nutritious foods and practicing proper breastfeeding.
One worker, Mrs Sithembiso Lungu from Garanyemba said the community was receptive to their message.
“We educate the parents and caregivers on the importance of giving children nutritious foods. This does not mean that they have to go out of their way to buy expensive food, but they can use the foods available to them. We have food that we grow on our own such as pumpkins, potatoes, peanuts, groundnuts and others. We do this to ensure that children get all the necessary nutrients needed for them to grow and they do not stunt. It is not only store-bought food that gives children nutrients,” she said.
As a result of these interventions, she said malnutrition cases were going down.
Besides advocating nutritious feeding of children, community health workers were also calling for improved breastfeeding rates to ensure babies were not exposed to unhealthy food early.
According to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, optimal infant and young child feeding practices are critical to the health and survival of young children.
These include early initiation of breastfeeding (within the first hour of life), exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, and feeding children a diet that meets a minimum diversity standard.
The ZDHS shows 25 percent of children aged six to 23 months were fed with a minimum dietary diversity while 42 percent were exclusively breastfed.
However, unhealthy infant and young child feeding practices such as the consumption of unhealthy foods high in sugar, salt, or unhealthy fats remains high.
At least 58 percent of children aged six to 23 months were fed a sweet beverage during the day before the survey while 25 percent of children in the same age group consumed unhealthy foods.
Ms Tryphine Ncube from Mawane village said breastfeeding was critical in the fight against malnutrition.
“We move around the village engaging the mothers and telling them why it is important to breastfeed their children. We discourage the feeding of solid food to children below six months. Those older children should not be fed unhealthy foods but can be fed nutritious meals.
“We also encourage pregnant women to visit the clinic for their antenatal classes and they are also encouraged to always eat food that is mineral rich to ensure that the babies are born with an optimal weight,” she said.
Gwanda district nutritionist Ms Leratilwe Ngulube said community health workers were complementing the work being done by the Ministry of Health and Child Care to fight malnutrition.
Through the National Development Strategy 1 the Government wants to address the issue of malnutrition and the importance of a nutritious diet, including the Four-Star Diet.
The strategy acknowledges that malnutrition, particularly among children and women, is a significant challenge in Zimbabwe and prioritises nutrition as a key determinant of health, productivity and overall development.
It also promotes the Four-Star Diet, which is a dietary guideline emphasising the consumption of diverse food groups, including cereals, legumes, vegetables, and animal-source foods.
