In Chad, malnutrition has become a permanent health problem. It particularly affects children under five years old. Dr Mahamat Bachir, Director of Food and Applied Nutrition at the Ministry of Public Health, talks to us about its causes, consequences and advice in order to promote good growth in children.
Reddened eyes, dry fingers, skin sticking to bones, swollen stomach, these are the visible symptoms of malnutrition. This disease which affects children manifests itself by persistent diarrhea, sudden weight loss, loss of appetite, joint and muscle pain.
Malnutrition, a lasting deficiency or deficit in the absorption of one or more important nutrients which are normally provided by a complete and balanced diet, and/or overnutrition, remains a major challenge in Chad and constitutes the primary cause of infant mortality. Dr Mahamat Bachir, Director of Food and Applied Nutrition at the Ministry of Public Health, emphasizes that malnutrition remains a multi-sectoral public health problem in Chad. It has multiple causes, namely: poor access to health care and drinking water, lack of hygiene, unsuitable feeding practices for infants, poverty, climate change as well as food insecurity.
According to him, child malnutrition is explained by the food deficit in quantity and quality, poor health coverage which results in low vaccination coverage for certain chronic diseases.
To recognize a malnourished child, says the doctor, one must diagnose or screen using MUAC bracelets. When the bracelet marks on yellow, he explains, this means that the child is moderately acutely malnourished; if it marks on red, this means that it is severely acutely malnourished. There is also what is called underweight which encompasses forms of malnutrition (acute and chronic) and hidden hunger, a kind of deficiency of micro-nutrients (vitamin and minerals). If the bracelet marks green, the child is in good health. He adds that there is also the nutri-score table which allows you to see if the child is malnourished by taking their weight and height. If the nutri-score is less than minus three, the child is severely acutely malnourished and between minus three and minus two, it is said to be moderate.
Given its multiple causes with harmful consequences, several factors of which explain its persistence, severe acute malnutrition leads to the early death of the child. But in certain so-called moderate cases, the child regains health but shows a delay in physical and mental growth. The doctor recalls that a study carried out and published in 2016 on the cost of hunger shows that Chad loses almost 9% of its GDP due to malnutrition.
To strengthen the overall health of the child and more particularly malnutrition in order to promote good growth in children, Dr Mahamat Bachir advises that it is necessary to follow up with an emphasis on hygiene, vaccination and also ensure the monitoring its growth at the level of health structures. “So that the child does not fall into malnutrition, the child’s hygiene must be respected. It is necessary to give him drinking water and exclusive breastfeeding between 0-6 months. And after six months, we must see how to provide adequate complementary food (cereals, peanuts). The child must also have vaccination coverage according to the Expanded Immunization Program (EPI) so that chronic illnesses do not handicap them.“, he concludes.
