Health experts at a workshop laid emphasis on multi-sectoral approach alongside making better coordination among government and non-government actors for addressing child malnutrition in the country.
Children malnutrition is still high in the country as people lack proper knowledge on food values, they made the observation while addressing at a workshop titled “Media sensitization workshop on food and nutrition security” at the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) in the capital recently.
Director General of Food Planning and Monitoring Unit of the Food Ministry M Badrul Arefin, Programme Manager of Food and Nutrition Security of EU Delegation to Bangladesh Assunta Testa, representatives of different government and non-government bodies, among others, addressed the seminar.
The PIB in cooperation with USAID, FAO and Save the Children organized the workshop. Journalists from both print and electronic media took part in the workshop.
At the workshop, speakers said integrating nutrition-sensitive approach into multi-sectoral intervention could further accelerate the improvement of nutrition for all.
In his keynote presentation, Chief technical Adviser of Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge Naoki Minamiguchi said food and nutrition security exists when all people at all times have physical social and economic access to healthy and nutritious food, which is consumed in sufficient quantity and
quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences.
Bangladesh has witnessed a good progress in different indicators of nutrition including reducing stunting rate, he added.
Health experts stressed the need for launching intensive campaign to educate people on appropriate complementary feeding practices for maintaining normal nutritional status of children.
Inappropriate and insufficient complementary food feedings are largely responsible for poor nutritional status among the infant and young children, they added.