Munira Seidu joined Self-Help International’s Growing Healthy Food, Growing Healthy Children (GHFGHC) program in Ghana when she was pregnant with her fourth child earlier this year.
Self-Help’s nutritionists helped Seidu make sure she was getting the nutrients she needed and taught her how to prepare healthy and nutritious meals at home.
Seidu stated, “Before I took the program, I was told I had low hemoglobin during my prenatal visits, but I didn’t understand what was affecting my baby. Little did I know it could lower my baby’s birth weight. All three of my other children also had low birth weights. “
The Self-Help International team explained the effects of low hemoglobin levels on unborn babies and how she could use locally available foods to increase hemoglobin levels. The GHFGHC program is designed to teach mothers in rural Ghana the importance of good nutrition through education and food demonstrations. For example, GHFGHC participants learn to prepare a dietary supplement called “Tom Brown”, a pulp made from quality protein corn (QPM) and roasted and ground peanuts together. QPM contains a higher protein content and twice the amount of essential amino acids compared to normal corn. The Tom Brown Porridge increases digestible protein and calorie intake, which helps reduce growth in children.
After going through the GHFGHC program, Seidu said, “Being part of the program has been a great opportunity for me. I gave birth to a healthy girl. Because of the nutritional support from Self-Help and the advice and services I was given before going into labor, my fourth child was born with a healthy weight. “
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/V2GTVZ36UNFFVH6OTIU3Z2VQFA.jpg "nonetheless brief on pupil vitamin employees"){kind=small}
