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HealingImpact Of Nutrition On The National Productivity And Social Issues

There is a saying that a healthy man is a wealth man. Nutrition is an integral part of people?s ?basic needs? and is considered a human right. Good nutrition is increasingly perceived as an investment in human capital they yields returns today as well as in the future.

Nigeria has witness a spiral development in her economy for many decades of her economic development due to her blind extreme dependency on the oil sector. Political instability and
mismanagement have also aggravated Nigerian?s economic woes

This has greatly influence the social life and productivity of her citizens causing a lot of problems and major among these problems is malnutrition. Nigeria gross domestic product (GDP) declined from a high of $1,000 per capita income in the mid-1980?s to an estimated $250 for 1996. In 1995 the inflation rate spiraled upward from a baseline of 22%, to a peak of 73%, however initial economic reforms and a tight monetary policy resulted in a drop in inflation to 12% for the twelve months period ending in 1997. The period of 1998 to 2002 witness a lot of positive impact on the nations economic, for example, dual exchange rates in effect of the Naira have been consolidated, fuel prices increased, albeit minimally, and the autonomy of the Nigerian Central Bank has been restored. There were also increases in GDP from $430 per capita in 2003 to $1,000 in 2005, reducing the unemployment rate from 3.2% in 1997 to 2.9% in 2005. In spite of all these series of development in economy for years, approximately 49% of Nigerians are below the poverty line of
eight dollars or less of monthly household income. I have classified the nutritional problem of Nigeria into undernutrition and micronutrient. The article will hit hard on how nutrition can decline a nations productivity and social life. It will also review the past effort and more effort which is needed to enhance nutrition for a better Nigeria.

NUTRITIONAL PROBLEM:

Nigeria as a country is characterized by two major nutritional problems which includes undernutrition and micronutrition. The rest have little impact and may be reserved for now.
Undernutrition is characterized by inadequate intake of macronutrients. It often starts in utero and may extend throughout the life cycle. It also spans generations. Undernutrition occurs during pregnancy, childhood and adolescence, and has a cumulative negative impact on the birthweight of future babies. A baby who has suffered intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) as a fetus is effectively born malnourished, and has a much higher risk of dying in infancy. The consequences of being born malnourished extend into adulthood. During infancy and early childhood, frequent or prolong infections and inadequate intakes of nutrients (particularly energy, iron, protein, vitamin A, and Zinc) may add to the contribution of IUGR to preschool underweight and stunting. In Nigerian situation, infants after period of exclusive breast feeding are followed up with weaning which consist of pap, akamu, ogi, or koko and is made from maize (Zee Mays), millet (pennisetum americanum), or guinea corn (sorghum spp.). People from low income groups seldom feed meat, eggs, or fish to their infants, because of socio-economic factors, taboos, and ignorance.

In Anambra State, Nigeria, Agu observed that pap contained only 0.5% protein and less than 1% fat, as compared with 9% protein and 4% fat in the original corn. This is usually due to poor processing. Akinele and Omotola investigated the energy and protein intake of infants and children of the low income group. They reported that about one-third to one-half of the infants suffered varying degrees of malnutrition and 10% were wasted and stunted. A more recent Nigerian National Survey conducted by the Demographic and health Survey (DHS) in 1990 placed the proportion of underweight children under five years of age (those below ?2SD weight-for-age ) at 36% including 12% severely underweight. (below -3 SD). The prevalence of stunting (below ?2 SD height ? for ? age) was 43% including 22% severe stunting (below ? 3SD) while the levels of wasting and severe wasting were 9% and 2% respectively. In 1986 in Ondo State, Nigeria, DHS Survey of children aged 6 to 36 months is 28% prevalence for underweight, 32% for stunting, and 7% for wasting.

For adults and older children, it is usually possible to achieve an adequate protein ? energy intake by increasing the daily intake of starchy foods of low nutrient density. For infants and small children, however, the volume of the traditional diets maybe too large to allow the child to ingest all the food necessary to cover his or her energy needs. A baby aged four to six months would need 920g of corn gruel to meet daily needs of energy (740 Kcal) and protein (13g). This is an impossible task, considering the size of an in fact?s stomach.

President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo rightly observed that almost half of children ages 7-13 in Nigerian are continue underweight. A lot of children and adults go to bed starved and some take one meal a day which mostly consists of carbohydrates.

Micronutrient is another hard nut to break in the area of nutrition. It is the inadequate intake of key vitamins and minerals. It can be observed both among the rural and urban dwellers in Nigeria. The lack of vitamins and minerals result in irreversible impairment to child physical and mental development. Apart from the indirect effects on the mother, micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy have serious implications for the developing fetus. Iodine deficiency disorders may cause foetal brain damage or still birth (mental retardation, delayed motor development) and stunting. Iodine deficiency in during foetal development and infancy has been shown to depress intelligence quotient levels by 10-15 points. Foliate deficiency may result in neural tube or other birth defects and preterm delivery, and both iron deficiency anemic and vitamin A deficiency may have significant implications for the future infant?s morbidity and mortality risk, vision, cognitive development reduce their ability to concentrate and fully participate in school and socially interact and develop.

It is on record that 40% of children under 5 years of age suffer vitamin A deficiency. It is the major cause of preventable, severe visual impairment and blindness in children. The most vulnerable is a high percentage of pre-schoolchildren and pregnant women who are anemic. These two nutrition problem are enormous in Nigeria situation have a great impact in the economy and social life of the country.

THE EFFECT OF NUTRITION ON THE NATION?S PRODUCTIVITY:

Good nutrition aids in the increase in human capital and Labour productivity through the channels of improved health and educations which in turn result in improved household and national welfare (economic growth).The link between nutrition and physical activity is well established. Dividing the energy available to a person by their basal metabolic rate (B M R) yields a measure of that person?s physical activity level. Most of the empirical works to date has focused on agriculture, and it attempts to link farm out put, profits, wages or labour allocation choices to indicators of nutritional in take, such as calories, and /or nutritional out puts, such as weight- for ? height, the body mass index (BMI) and height.

Strauss observed that the lower the calorie intake, the more significant output response is to increased calorie intake. For example, based on a daily intake of 1500 calories per consumer equivalent, a mere 10 per increase in calorie intake would increase output by nearly 5 percent.

Croppnstedt and Muller observed in Ethiopia that a 10 percent increase in weight - for ? height and BMI would increase output and wages by about 23 and 27 percent, respectively. They also observed that height, an indicator of a person?s past nutritional experience, is a significant determination of wages, with a person who is 7.1cm above the average height earning about 15 percent more wages.

Poor nutritional statues also prevent people from carrying out certain task and therefore reduce their employment opportunities. This is because their likely to choose a less strainous jobs with lesser payment and some unemployed. Poor nutritional status can indirectly limit production through absenteeism and sluggishness in caring out various functions.

Micronutrient also has a great impact in people nutritional statues. Iron deficient anaemic Children usually have poorer levels of development than non-anaemic children. In adults, iron deficiency negatively affects work capacity and productivity as well as contributing to absenteeism. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy negatively affects child growth and mental development and in extreme cases it cause cretinism. The costs are a loss of IQ time required for care and reduced labour supply and labour capacity when older. There is also some evidence that iodine deficiency during adulthood reduces productivity and work capacity. This is the very reason while a healthy nation is a wealthy and peaceful nation-peaceful in the sense that when the social life of the nation is superb, there are usually no rooms for complain and worries. In essence increase in the rate of economic growth will lead to increased public and private spending on health and education and on the quality and quantity of food consumed thus improving nutritional outcomes.

EVALUATION OF THE PRESENT AND PAST EFFORTS:

There have been series of bold step toward solution finding by government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) to eradicate mal nutrition and its reacted effect both in the present and past, though some proved abortive due to bad government and economic dwindling which characterized the 1980s, to trace this chronologically. In 1983, the U.S. Agency for international Development (USAID) began providing assistance to the Nigerian Federal and State Ministries of Health to develop and implement programs in family planning and child survival. There focus was in three areas, but especially in the government and social services area. It will also be focused on catalyzing the growth and leverage of NGOs working at the community and national levels in health care support and democratization. The USAID committed and $135 million to bilateral assistance programs for the period of 1986 to 1996 as Nigeria undertook an initially successful structural Adjustment program, but later abandon it. Plans to commit $150 million in assistance from 1993 to 2000 were interrupted by strains in US ?Nigeria relations over human right abuses, the failed transition to democracy, and a lack of cooperation from the Nigerian Government on anti ? narcotics trafficking issues. By the mid ? 1990?s these problems resulted in the curtailment of USA ID activities that might benefit the military government.

In 1987, The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), under the principal Researcher Dr. Kenton Dashiell, Launched an ambitions effort in Nigeria to combat widespread malnutrition. They encourage using nutritious economical soybeans in everyday food. They further said that soybeans are about 40% protein ? rich than any of the common vegetable or animal food source found in Africa. With the addition of maize, rice and other cereals to the soybeans, the resulting protein meets the standards of the United Nations Food and Agricultural organization (FAO). Soybeans also contain about 20% oil which is 85% unsaturated and Cholesterol free. Though that is nice program for alleviation of malnutrition started at period, a lot of socio economic thorns hindered its proper function during this period.

In August 1987, the federal government launched its primary Health care plan (PHC), which President Ibrahim Babangida announced as the cornerstone of health policy. Intended to affect the entire national population, its main stated objectives included accelerated health care personnel development; improved collection and monitoring of health data; ensured availability of essential drugs in all areas of the country; implementation an expanded Program on Immunization (EPI); improved ?nutrition? throughout the country; promotion of health awareness development of a national family health program; and widespread promotion of oral dehydration therapy for treatment of diarrheal disease in infant and children.

The president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 meeting with the president international Union of Nutritional sciences (IUNS) promised to support a better coordination of nutrition activities and programs in Nigeria, he further said that ?the high prevalence of malnutrition is totally unacceptable to this Government and he assured the IUNS president that he would do everything possible to ensure that resources are available to improve household food security greater access to healthcare services and better caring capacity by mothers including supported for breast feeding promotion.

In the 27th September 2005 Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Lunched the Nasarawa State School feeding program at the Laminga primary school. The program is fully funded and administrated by the state of Nasarawa, which makes it a unique model in Africa today. The epoch making event is in fulfillment of one of the promises of combating malnutrition especially among children whom he observed that many at the age of 7 ? 13 years are underweight. He further promises to reach out about 27 million children during the coming 10 years.

Other international bodies and NGO like the World Bank development fund; the world health organization (WHO); the United Nations agencies (UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP); The African Development Bank; the Ford and Mc Arthur Foundation etc. All of them have contributed their own quarters to the improvement of the nation?s health and nutrition.

CONCLUSION:

Nutrition has a great impact in the normal productivity and social life of the people. Therefore, training and nutrition education is very important. Nutrition education can easily incorporate into primary health care programs. The African Child survival program have reduced the high prevalence of malnutrition in many part of cause and an outcome of under nutrition economic losses from undernutrition includes, as percentages of total losses from all causes: foregone human productivity, 10 ? 15% ; foregone GDP, % - 10 %. Not only in economic growth foregone, but it is foregone for the poor, who read it the most. Nutrition fuelled economic growth promises to reduce income inequality. Moreover, improved nutrition is a particularly powerful antipoverty intervention because it can be achieved at low cost and it has a life long impact. Investment in nutrition is one of the best options for economic growth and better social life.

REFERENCES:

1. King J, Ashworht A changes in infact feeding practices in Nigeria: an historical review. Occasional Paper No. 9. London : Centre for Human Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medical, 1987.

2. Kazimi J, Kazimi HR. infact feeding practices of the Igbo Ecol Food Nutrition 1979; 8: 111-6

3. The United Stated Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. food, the year book of Agriculteur 1959.

4. UNICEF, Strategy for improved Nutrition of Children and women in Developing Countries, New york. 1990

5. ACC/SCN, Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation Geneva: ACC / SCN in Collaboration with the International food Policy Research Institute N2000.

6. http ://WWW . UNU. Edu/unupress/food/v191 e/cho 6 . htm

7. http ://WWW. Fao . org / docrep / 033/ x9800e /x9800 e07 . htm.

8. http :// WWW. Online Nigeria. Com/education/ index.asp.

9. Yu xiaodong. Action Neede At the national level, The Chinese experiment SCN News Development In International Nutrition. No. 32, mid - 2006.

10. Armar MA. Maternal energy status lactational capacity and infant growth in rural Ghana: a study of the interaction of cultural and biological Doctoral thesis, University of London, 1989.

THIS ARTICLE IS WRITTEN BY: NZEKWE C. JUSTIN JR. P. O. BOX 196, AKOKWA, IMO STATE. NIGERIA. e-mail : johnsonjustinz@yahoo.com PHONE: +123-806-335-0901

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