Tendai Charumbira
Poverty in the country is continuously exposing children to nutritional vulnerabilities as the minors suffer due to poor income their parents and guardians have, as funding in child protection systems by government continues to dwindle.
In the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) April 2022 Policy Digest, they reported that a percentage total of 23.5 of children suffer from stunted growth while 12.6 percent are born with a low birth weight while they also experience poor dietary diversity resulting in three quarters of them suffering from malnutrition.
“UNICEF 2021 Zimbabwe Annual Report propounded that Zimbabwe has weak child protection systems that have failed to ensure safety and well-being of children. UNICEF reported that 4.8 million Zimbabwean children live in poverty and 1.6 million live in extreme poverty.
“The most prevalent issues of impoverished children in Zimbabwe include malnutrition, education, sanitation and access to portable water. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported that less than 10 percent of the children between 6-24 months of age consume a minimally acceptable diet,” read part of the report.
In an interview District Medical Officer (DMO) for Chiredzi Dr Brian Dhlandhlara said the increasing nutritional vulnerability among children is a result of poor dietary diversity is being caused by low income as people no longer have enough money for their children to have a balanced diet.
“The increasing nutritional vulnerability among children as a result of poor dietary diversity is being caused by poverty as people are failing to give their children a balance diet,”said Dr Dhlandhlara.
According to medical practitioner Dr Calvin Maimba stunted growth is when a child fails to grow to the proper height commensurate with his or her age.
“The main cause of stunted growth is when there is poor nutrition in pregnant women or children. It can also be described as under nutrition,” said Dr Maimba.
In an interview with TellZim News, the director of Philadephia Medical Corridor Dr Doutie Chiwororo said that there is an increase in nutrition vulnerabilities as a result of poor diets because of civilization; literacy and internet where people now rely on the internet no longer seek medical advice on their children’s health.
The cost of living in Zimbabwe has been deteriorating, which has resulted in many people shunning from seeking for medical advice in deteriorating public health centres, coupled with expensive consultation fees in private health institutions.
This has led many parents to discover their children’s nutritional deficiencies late, when it has become hardly reversible.
