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We’re guilty of not eating right

Updated 8 hr(s) 57 min(s) ago

Early Tuesday, I attended a meeting of children-sensitive stakeholders who have, and have every right to, panicked over the increasing statistics of children eating badly. In Kenya today, children are either being overfed or underfed.

It is easy to identify children who are supposedly underfed, as their images, especially those from poor families, always haunt the media. We have seen pictures of children crying, looking gaunt and with big empty stomachs. they inspire sympathy and get people dipping into their pockets to contribute to kitties that promise to provide them with the necessary sustenance.

But how often do we think of our children, the ones we believe are well fed, even pampered, because they are spoilt for choice? for many parents, as long as a child has eaten whatever, then they are well fed. Rarely do we as parents — and I put myself in that category — consider whether our ‘well fed’ children are actually eating well. are they receiving the necessary nutrients for proper body development (vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, proteins) or are they being fed to obesity — and its resultant consequences?

It is easy to brush aside accusations of malnutrition because this is considered a plight for the poor, but guess what, your child too (yes, you, who has a good job that keeps that fridge well stocked and pays for family fun days at restaurants over the weekent to indulge in deep fried foods — and I’m in that category, too) could be malnourished.

The ultimate end for obese and underfed children is the same — death, unless we urgently revamp our diets. An unhealthy parent is most likely going to promote an unhealthy diet in his/her household and his/her children are, consequently, going to end up eating badly. To reverse this trend, a lot of education needs to be done, beginning with well-off parents on how to feed their children properly.

This was the aim of the breakfast meeting yesterday morning when the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, in partnership with Save the Children, Unicef and the Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development, among others, launched a new public awareness and advocacy campaign to address the rising prevalence of infant and child malnutrition.

My hope is that the 18-month campaign will motivate more Kenyans to embrace healthy living and, more so, to direct the savings they will make from cutting back on unhealthy foods to organisations that are working tirelessly, every day, to feed the children of the poor who do not have access to proper foods.

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