It was a good learning opportunity for the MSc AHN students who got the opportunity to attend the MIYCN Symposium
Overview of Nutrition Situation in Kenya
The symposium started with an overview of nutrition situation in Kenya;
In Kenya, malnutrition is the leading cause of infant and child morbidity, mortality and hospital admission. Nutrition deprivation is one of the top three contributors of multidimensional poverty among children, adolescents, youth and older persons. A child born today in Kenya will only realize 55% of his/her maximum potential in productivity
However, 100 shilling invested in nutrition has the potential to generate KSh. 2200 in economic returns. Scaling-up 11 key nutrition specific - interventions would cost KSh. 7.6 billion; save 5,000 lives, and avert almost 700,000 cases of stunting.
MIYCN focuses on both maternal and child nutrition. According to the KDHS 2014 the stunting rates of children under 5 is at 26% in Kenya. Wasting stands at 4% in Kenya however, in some parts of Kenya mostly the arid and semi arid areas it can go as high as 14% for example Turkana. Overweight prevalence in Kenya is also at 4%. This has resulted in the triple burden of malnutrition. The nutritional status is usually affected during complementary feeding hence a lot of actions have been undertaken to safeguard our children. The National Treasury has reported that there is a 374 billion shilling loss yearly due to child malnutrition.
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