Upper East Regional Nutrition Officer of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Madam Gloria Yvonne Kobati,
The Upper East Regional Nutrition Officer of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Madam Gloria Yvonne Kobati, has advised against skipping breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day.
She observed that most people rush from home to their various workplaces and skip breakfast.
“If you skip breakfast, your body will not function properly because you have fasted overnight and need to get some energy into the body,” she explained.
Ms. Kobati spoke at a regional stakeholder event on the introduction of nutritional interventions for school-age children and adolescents in Bolgatanga.
The program brought together regional, local and district directors from the GHS and the Ghana Education Service (GES), including traditional authorities and the media.
She urged parents to give their children a good breakfast every morning before they go to school.
Madam Kobati noted that it is important that school children are fed healthy meals and said, “When we talk about healthy meals, we mean eating foods from a variety of sources. The food should contain, among other things, animal foods, vegetables and fruits, cereals, legumes. “
She said that all kinds of foods should be labeled the “four-star diet” and in amounts that would please the children.
The nutrition officer therefore called for a healthy diet of three meals a day with healthy snacks in between.
Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, GHS regional director, said school-age malnutrition is having devastating effects on their growth and learning potential and called for an improvement in school feeding programs.
He said that anemia reduced their academic performance due to impaired cognitive development, fatigue, and short attention span, while obesity left them prone to cardiovascular disease later in life.
“Optimal eating patterns and habits developed early in life improve academic performance and reduce the risk of immediate diet-related health problems,” said the director.
Dr. Dzotsi said that the GHS, in collaboration with the GES and other partners, is implementing some health and nutrition interventions in schools.
“These interventions have been reviewed and the current plan is to consolidate all interventions for school-age children and adolescents that aim to improve their nutritional status,” he added.
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr. Edward Azure, GES Regional Director, assured the GHS of his support for the introduction of nutritional intervention in schools across the region.
Bonaba Baba Salifu Lemyaarum, the chief chief of the traditional bongo area who represented the upper house of the Upper East region, urged parents to see that their children were likely to be well fed.
