Lockdown could have left our children malnourished — Parents applaud Nana Akufo-Addo for the ban lift
Although the uplift of the ban on movements in the country has been greeted with lots of uproar from the public but some parents have expressed happiness about the President’s decision.
They noted that the rich were enjoying the movement restrictions while the poor were living below the baseline together with their kids.
Reports indicate that the use of lockdown as a measure to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus threatens the nutrition of children as established by affected parents.
Speaking to some parents exclusively on Spot On News in an interview on Monday in Accra, the aggrieved parents regretted that children did not have access to regular feeding and nutritious food during the lockdown.
They said most of the children were living below the food poverty line, therefore was prudent that the government reviewed his decision to allow the parent to work in feeding the kids.
Adequate nutrition, they said was essential for children’s health and wellbeing, stressing that they were using their scarce resources to buy other sterilising agents to ensure the kids were well protected from the pandemic after games with friends.
Aunty Agatha, a trader decried that the system was tough for her and each day she wept bitterly as to how she would be able to fend for the kids when they were crippled inside with the lockdown policy.
She regretted that at times her kids eat gari without fish, adding that “by the mere look of my son’s eye I could tell he was getting sick because he was not getting the necessary proteins and other nutrients he is supposed to have.”
Another trader, Mary Abena Sampomaa noted that most children in the country lived below the poverty line and were hitting hard with hunger and diet that were unbalanced.
She said one way meal with no fish was making the children malnourished, thus developing “kwashiorkor” and lauded the president for acting fast to maintain the nutritional value of kids in their various homes and households.
Ms Sampomaa argued that the lockdown took away children’s right to adequate food, one course meal were the order in various house holds, saying “if it is Kenkey and fried fish the children will eat from morning to evening.”
Deborah Ghansah, a fashion designer said some children did not even get the opportunity to eat three times daily, expatiating that some eat twice and some also were glutton so they were left unsatisfied.
She maintained that food security should be prioritised to ensure adequate feeding of children, stressing that the lockdown took negative toll on the economy and potentially disrupted local food systems, together with household mitigation behaviours which restricted children’s access to adequate food and diet quality.
Families, Ms Ghansah posited were also affected greatly by the economic slowdown and fluctuating food prices, which deprived children’s access to quality nutritious meals.
BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE
