Teen mothers from Githunguri, Kiambu County have benefitted from a nutrition training programme, in a bid to reduce mother and child health-related complications that have been on the rise in the area.
The programme, organised by the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) emphasised, among other areas, the importance consuming indigenous vegetables, cooking skills, recipes, balanced diets and baby feeding programmes.
The mothers, led by Lilian Wanjiku and Jentrix Msimbi, said they have been in and out of hospitals due to health-related complications caused by poor diets thus risking both their health and that of their children.
“We have been experiencing health issues such as stomachaches, bloating and diarrhea but didn’t know their causes. This training will help us improve our health and that of our children,” said Wanjiku..
Cecilia Njeri, a nurse at Githunguri Health Centre, said the facility has been receiving several patients, especially teenage mothers suffering from diseases like anemia and diabetes, advising them to consume food that can improve their immunity and fight diseases.
“Most of the cases at the health centre are lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, mostly caused by what people eat. We have realised that our young mothers aren’t consuming lots of indigenous vegetables which helps improve immunity,” said Njeri.
Prof Mary Abukutsa,a nutritionist and Lecturer at JKUAT said the programme will be enhanced to other areas to have more mothers trained on better lifestyle.
She advocated for the reduction of the consumption of starch foods and increased uptake of indigenous foods which have minerals and enable the body fight diseases.
“We all should consume traditional vegetables which improve the body’s immunity as they have a variety of important minerals, and have antioxidants and fiber which clean the body,” added Prof Abukutsa.
Her words were echoed by Dr Ann Aswani, a lecturer at the Masinde Muliro University of Science and technology (MMUST), who noted that the lack of enough cooking skills and wrong choice of foods have led to an increase in health issues among young women and their children.
“Most young ladies lack cooking skills depending on where they were brought up and they prefer eating fast foods that lead to health problems. That is why we decided to train them on how to cook the best foods so as to have healthy lives,” said Dr Aswani.
By Kelvin Kathurima and Muoki Charles
