Bulambuli. – Mothers are to blame for increasing cases of malnourished children in the country, Bulambuli District health officer has said.
Dr Muhammad Mulongo said malnutrition is not always caused by starvation but eating an unbalanced diet.
Dr Mulongo said the consequence of this is micro-nutrient deficiencies that manifest in stunted growth and intelligence and suppressed immune systems which in the end lead to deaths.
He pointed out that in most urban centres in Uganda mothers are too busy to attend to their children and only buy them junk food.
“You will find them packing sodas and not passion fruit juice for the children going to school,” Dr Mulongo said.
“In rural areas, mothers abandon their children and go collecting firewood and digging for long hours and return home late and yet a child is supposed to be fed after every two hours. How do you expect a child not to be malnourished in such a situation?” Dr Mulongo asked.
He was addressing participants during a sensitisation workshop on nutritional challenges in Uganda in Bulambuli recently.
The district chairman, Mr Simon Wananzofu, urged councillors and area MPs to drum up support for the Nutrition Bill and scaling down rates of malnutrition in the country.
According to Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2011, 33 per cent of children under age of five are stunted due to nutrition related causes.- Monitor
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