By Jumoke Olaitan
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has called for a stronger role in tackling child malnutrition through school feeding, school health and nutrition education.
This is contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Mr Ikharo Attah, issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Alausa made the call at the Ethiopia–Nigeria Leadership Exchange on Moving the Needle on Nutrition in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He said that the Nutrition 774 Initiative required stronger collaboration among ministries and the three tiers of government to ensure that interventions reached children and families at the local level.
“Education is central to this effort because children’s nutrition, health, learning and overall development are closely interconnected,” he said.
The minister identified school feeding as a practical way of improving children’s nutrition while encouraging regular school attendance.
He also highlighted the integration of nutrition-related studies into the revised school curriculum to teach children about healthy eating, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles.
Alausa said education-related interventions under the initiative would include school feeding, school health, nutrition education and measures to improve access to quality education.
According to him, these interventions are expected to form part of local government plans on food and nutrition, with education indicators included in the Nutrition 774 local government scorecard.
“National policies must be backed by effective implementation at state and local government levels, with clear targets and appropriate monitoring arrangements,” he said.
The minister also called for greater attention to early childhood care and development beyond the first 1,000 days of life, stressing the need for sustained support for children’s nutritional, health and developmental needs.
He further stressed the importance of reliable and integrated data to identify children and communities requiring support and to track the impact of nutrition interventions.
Alausa said Nigeria could draw useful lessons from Ethiopia’s experience in coordinating nutrition programmes and mobilising domestic resources, while adapting such lessons to the country’s peculiar circumstances.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to working with relevant ministries, state and local governments and development partners to strengthen education-related interventions under the Nutrition 774 Initiative. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
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