The National Coordinator, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, (NHGSFP), Dr. Umar Bindir has said the federal government will implement the Nutritional Guideline to curb Nutrients Deficiencies in the ongoing National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Bindir while speaking in Abuja on Friday at a one – day validation meeting on nutrition guidelines of the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme stated that the meeting is another milestone having developed a nutritional guideline in collaboration with the Nutrition society of Nigeria with the aim knowing what kind of food can make a balance diet for the children.
“This function is another milestone in the sense that we have now developed a nutritional guideline with the help of the nutrition society of Nigeria which is basically on local content on how we can how we train our cooks, feed our children, what kind of food can make the menu of our food materials”.
Bindir explained that since the inception of the NHGSFP in 2016, the government has fed more than 10 million children nationwide with not report of ill-health on food consumption by the school children.
“This is a good thing happening in our country, at the end of this meeting we will have validate the useful information on nutrition as it relates to the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme”.
Technical Adviser to the Minister of of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development on School Feeding, Zainab Abubakar on her part noted that the nutritional guideline is important for pupils to have the nutritional benefits, reduce micro nutrients deficiencies and impart positively on their learning process.
“As the Federal Government and ministry, we need to ensure that what is on that menu is of nutritional value and we have to ensure that what those pupils are fed within this program has to benefit them nutritionally and have an impart on thier learning process”.
“Part of the objective of the guidelines is to identify national nutritional requirements and reduce micro nutrients deficiencies, we also need to promote nutrition best practices to strengthen the program better”.
President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, Prof. Wasiu Afolabi expressed optimism that for the first time the country is getting it right putting nutrition as a key factor in operationalizing the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Afolabi pledged the commitment of the society to partner with the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and ensure that school children under the program benefits from the nutritional guideline when validated.