Nestle Nutrition Institute and Boston University Partner to Boost Capacity of Healthcare Professionals in Nigeria
In a bid to help improve the indicators related to nutrition and health in Nigeria, Nestlé partnered with the prestigious Boston University Medical School in the United States to deliver the Postgraduate Programme in Pediatric Nutrition (PGPN). This programme was first delivered to healthcare professionals across Nigeria in 2016.
The nutritional indices for Nigerian children remain alarming. Figures have shown that, each year an estimated one million Nigerian children die before their fifth birthday and malnutrition contributes to nearly half of these deaths. About 2 in 5 Nigerian children are stunted, with rates of stunting varying throughout the country. Also, almost 30 per cent of Nigerian children are underweight.
The goal of PGPN, an online training delivered globally, is to improve the knowledge and competence of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the field of nutrition. The training of 300 HCPs was financed by Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA), which is committed to training health care professionals across the continent.
Speaking at the symposium and convocation to mark the end of the 2017 session, Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa’s Manager for Anglophone speaking countries in West Africa, Mrs. Chioma Emma-Nwachukwu said, “Given the very positive feedback on the relevance of the PGPN training to their clinical practices from participants of the 2016 session, we were encouraged to do more this year. The registration grew by over 50 per cent in 2017. We know that the nutrition investment made in the first 1000 days of a child’s life has a multiplier effect, producing more positive health outcomes later in life. This programme is aimed at equipping HCPs to contribute to the health outcomes of the child, in the course of their practice.”
Participants were trained on the role of nutri- tion in optimal growth, immunity, micronutrients deficiencies, nutritional management of diarrhea in children, and pediatric obesity. The objective is to bring these courses to 10,000 more healthcare professionals over the next three years.
The programme which comprised three levels culminated in the symposia and convocation ceremonies held on the 6th and 7th of November 2017 in Lagos and Abuja respectively. Participants also included the PGPN faculty members, consisting of Professors from the Boston University School of Medicine, University of Lagos Teaching Hospital and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
One of the graduands of the PGPN, Dr. Opeyemi Oshinowo of Lagos University Teaching Hospital said, “PGPN is very relevant, it has opened my eyes to certain things that I thought I knew about nutrition, but did not fully understand and appreciate. I want to say that I have learnt a lot in the last one year and it has made me approach my patients in a better way. I want to thank the organisers of this programme, Nestlé Nutrition Institute Africa and Boston University School of Medicine for putting together this wonderful program.”
In his presentation at the Lagos symposium and convocation titled, ‘Establishing healthy food habits in children’, Dr. Clifford Lo, an adjunct professor of paediatric nutrition at the Harvard Medical School, stressed the importance of developing healthy food habits and food preferences in infants and children. He also examined the role of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation in establishing food preferences in children. He harped on the need to identify strategies to address challenges in food acceptance by young children.
“The dietary patterns learned during the early years of life usually track into later childhood and adulthood which contributes to form the basis for future eating patterns in children,” he said.