18th December 2024 3:58:27 PM
2 mins readMalnutrition has claimed the lives of at least two children in the Bawku Municipal area, with 65 reported cases in 2024.
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The ongoing regional conflict has worsened the situation, further straining the lives of local families. As a result, many children are suffering from severe malnutrition, and there have also been reports of anaemia affecting pregnant women.
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In a recent interview with Citi News, Bathomio Asigri, the Bawku Municipal Health Nutrition Officer, disclosed that the number of malnutrition cases saw a sharp increase in 2023, with a total of 297 cases recorded.
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“Within the Bawku municipality, what we think could be the cause of these high cases that we are recording, could partly be blamed on the conflict, I am saying this because Bawku municipality is regarded as a business hub even within the Country.
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“Unfortunately, within the past three years, a lot of trading activities are not going as they used to, so families are not in good standing as they used to be when it comes to their nutrition and their food security,” he revealed.
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He pointed out that numerous studies have been conducted to assess the eating habits of residents in the municipality.
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The results show that as trade activities have slowed in the area over the last few years, there has been a noticeable drop in the number of meals people consume daily.
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This change could be a significant factor in the rising malnutrition rates observed in the town.
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“We have done a lot of surveys and we have seen the number of meals taken before and after the conflict within some areas…we admit to the fact that the number of times they feed in a day has reduced and that in a way has a bearing on the number of cases that we are recording.”
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Malnutrition occurs when there is a mismatch between the nutrients your body requires and the nutrients it receives.
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This imbalance can manifest as either undernutrition or overnutrition.
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It can result from not getting enough calories in general, or it may involve deficiencies in specific nutrients like proteins, vitamins, or minerals.
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