As the harsh economic reality continues to bite, many Nigerian parents, especially mothers, have been forced to make changes in the quality of food they give their young ones.
A common practice obtained is for children to be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives; between that time and when they develop teeth to chew, they are fed with pap, Tom Brown, baby food like Cerelac, Nutribom, Nutrilac, and so on.
This often burdens the average Nigerian family income, as they would require special feeding, ranging from milk to baby food.
What Experts Say About Feeding
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the first 2 years of a child’s life are particularly important, as optimal nutrition during this period lowers morbidity and mortality, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and fosters better development overall.
WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommend an early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth followed by exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and eventually the introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.
They stated that undernutrition was estimated to be associated with 2.7 million child deaths annually, or 45% of all child deaths. Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve child survival and promote healthy growth and development.
UNICEF recommends that, at one year, about the time children start to walk, your child’s feeding schedule should include four to five meals a day, plus two healthy snacks. Milk products are a very important part of your child’s diet—give them one or two cups of milk a day.
Current Reality In Nigeria
UNICEF Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Rownak Khan, disclosed that 40% of the children in Nigeria are stunted; this means they are short for their age.
“When they are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, they don’t have the right cognitive function; they don’t learn well in school, which allows them not to retain their education in the school, and so they drop out of the school, and they go through the cycle of an unprotected environment throughout their lives.
A summary of the 2024 Situational Analysis of Children and Adolescents in Nigeria (SitAn) revealed that 40% of the 110 million children in the country; approximately 44 million children were stunted.
The report on the state of Nigeria’s children was launched on Wednesday, November 2024, in Abuja, as part of activities to mark this year’s World Children’s Day.
What Some Mothers Do To Give Their Toddlers Balanced Diet Despite The Odds
A self-employed mother of two, Joy Asiri (not real name), explains how she makes her toddler’s meal nutritious in spite of the economic reality:
“Like me, instead of making pap and start looking for how I can always add milk to their pap, I do what we call multi – grain Tom Brown. I get the mixture of yellow corn, guinea corn, millet, soya beans, tiger nuts, and groundnuts.
“I wash these grains and sun-dry them, fry my soybeans and groundnuts, and then grind everything together. I also make sure I add at least 1 mudu of dates as a sweetener and grind everything together.
“These whole grains put together are a complete meal for both children and adults. When you start checking their nutritional values, you find out that you are feeding your kids, especially from that age, with a very nutritious meal.
“Tigernuts, that is also part of my Tom Brown, according to research, is second to the best milk you can give to your babies from 6 months of age.
“By so doing, I see myself not having to buy the peak 123 often, and even when I buy, it takes a longer time for me to buy again because the Tom Brown I’m giving them is even richer than the milk and Milo. That is how I’m pulling through now that milk and everything are on the high side.
She therefore encouraged other parents to be creative in making nutritious meal options for their little ones:
“I implore other parents to also think of better alternative ways of supplementing their children’s meals,” she said.
On her part, Anita, a mother of three, admitted that times were hard and narrated how she has had to make adjustments:
“Things are not the way they used to be. Eight years ago and now, you can’t compare. When I had my first child, things were a bit cheaper than now. The baby milk and cereal were cheaper. When I had my third child last October, the brand of baby milk I used for her was around 5000 naira.
“As of last month, it was 10,650 naira. I am still trying to give her a healthy meal despite the soaring cost. She still takes her cereals, satchet cerelac that used to be 150 naira per satchet then is now 350 naira. The tin costs 5,000 naira, but it was around 1,800 naira a few years ago.
“If I’m giving her pap, if I was using three scoops of milk then, I’ve reduced it to one and a half. For the cereals, I prefer buying the ones with milk; in that way, you cut down expenses on milk.
“We’re still giving our babies the much we can afford; the only thing is, we reduce the quantity we give them. If a tin of milk used to last a week and some days for me, now it lasts up to two weeks. Doing that means reducing the number of scoops we use for them. So it can last longer.
“The things my older children, aged 8 and 4, were fed as toddlers, my youngest child, who is about 1, has not eaten half of because of the cost. Prices then, as at 2016, were way cheaper,” she said.
Advice From Nutritionists
Popular milk and baby food brands encourage that children be fed their product as from six months for the child’s optimal brain and body development. Parents have come to accept this and would pay an arm and a leg to purchase these items because of the belief that their child may not be brilliant or healthy if fed other things.
Surprisingly, against popular beliefs, nutritionists discourage parents from patronising baby food manufacturers but rather urge them to look within.
Senior Programme Officer, Nutrition International, Mrs. Ayodele Gbemileke, said toddlers do not need processed baby food; they should rather feed from the family meal.
“Prepare it in a consistency the child can accept; for instance, if you are making beans, mash a little portion of the beans for the child; if you are making yam in the family, take a little and mash it; if you are taking fish, just debone it. You can blend it with crayfish in semi-solid consistency; in that way, you won’t be spending much extra time trying to attend to the child.
“Make sure it is the family meal; that way you won’t be spending money or time trying to attend to the child. We don’t encourage baby food,” Gbemileke said.
She said when feeding the child with pap, Tom Brown should be added, and that was enough to improve the nutritional value.
“From 6 months, we usually encourage family meals, cook the meals, and if it’s rice, cook it very soft, blend it in some cases, mash it in some cases, and mix it with vegetables, blend your vegetables, and that would be good,” the program manager said.
Similarly, Baby Friendly Initiative Desk Officer, Federal Ministry Of Health and Social Welfare, Adenike BBayode, explained that there was absolutely no need for pressure when a child is transitioning to solid food:
“You don’t have to stress yourself buying tin food when your child is transitioning from exclusive breastfeeding.
“When a child is 6 months old, mothers should not be anxious because prior to the time the child will be 6 months, the child will be longing for the mother to give him or her what she is eating. The household food should be given to that child,” she said.
Bayode noted that the mistake some mothers make was to want to expand the intestine of the child, thinking that 3 or 4 spoons would not be sufficient.
“When a child clocks six months and you want to feed the child with complimentary food, you can start with the household food. As you are eating, the child will be happy; the child has been longing to get something from you, so seize the opportunity and give the child one or three spoons. Gradually, the child will be integrated into the household food rather than you going for tin or canned food,” she said.
“The nutritionist further warned that pap given to the child should not be watery because watery pap is not nutritious.
“The child should be given semisolid food, maybe 3 or 4 spoons; gradually the child will get accustomed to the household food.
“You can prepare light amala or semo with ewedu or okro, plenty of “iru,” and just a little oil; the child will eat, and it’s nutritious. You don’t have to stress yourself; even some people going for cereal, the child doesn’t need it; the household food is sufficient for the child to take,” Bayode explained.
She further stated that, “If you have the money, ensure fish and animal source protein are there for the child. For vitamins, you can grate carrots and give the baby the juice. You can also juice orange and watermelon for the child, but let the child be integrated into the household meal; you don’t need extra cost; it’s a gradual process”.
No Need To Buy Extra Milk For Actively Breastfed Toddlers
Consultant Paediatrician and Founder of Ask The Paediatricians Foundation, Dr. Gbemisola Boyede, disclosed that malnutrition was one of the underlying issues in 50% of deaths of children below the age of 5 years.
Boyede said one of the mistakes parents make when starting complimentary feeding was to give the babies only pap.
She explained that a meal should contain four classes of food, which include vegetables and legumes, fruit, cereals and grain foods, and dairy and meat, while a pap meal contains only one class of food.
She informed that the frequency of breast milk should not be reduced from what it was during exclusive breastfeeding and that was enough to cover their dairy requirement.
