The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has begun a school-based nutrition intervention aimed at tackling poor dietary habits among Nigerian adolescents.
It warned that neglecting nutrition during the critical stage of adolescence could undermine the health and productivity of the country’s future workforce.
Speaking during the intervention, launched at the Junior Secondary School, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, JICA Nigeria’s Programme Coordinator for Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Environment, Climate Change and ODA Loans, Princess Kelechi Barry-Chukwu, initiative came against the backdrop of significant nutrition challenges among Nigerian adolescents, with about 31 per cent of those aged 10 to 19 reportedly thin or underweight.
She said the programme was designed to make schools more active in shaping what adolescents eat, how they make food choices and their understanding of healthy lifestyles.
Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable, with the prevalence of acute malnutrition reportedly more than four times that of adult women, while about 55 per cent suffer from anaemia, a condition associated in large part with inadequate iron intake and poor dietary diversity.
Barry-Chukwu said adolescence represented a critical but often overlooked window for intervention, adding that the period was the second-fastest phase of human growth after early childhood, requiring greater attention to nutrition if Nigeria was to build a healthier and more productive adult population.
She said, “Nutrition is one of the most rewarding investments a government could make,” urging stakeholders to treat adolescent nutrition as a national development issue rather than a responsibility left solely to families.
According to her, JICA was taking the intervention into schools because they provide an important platform for influencing behaviour and reinforcing what children learn at home.
She said the programme, which is expected to run until January, would equip teachers to pay closer attention to students’ food and lifestyle choices while encouraging schools to establish nutrition clubs and gardens.
The agency also plans to support activities including food and cooking demonstrations, nutrition debates, fruit challenges and lunchbox challenges as part of efforts to make healthy eating more practical and engaging for students.
Barry-Chukwu said teachers would also be encouraged to engage parents on what their children consume before coming to school and during school hours.
She added that nutrition should be integrated into regular school activities rather than treated as an occasional subject.
She said, “Nutrition shouldn’t be an issue that people only discuss at home; it should be an issue that concerns everyone because all of us eat.”
The JICA official said the immediate objective was to guide the participating school in mainstreaming nutrition into its activities through school gardens, nutrition clubs and practical learning.
At the school level, Home Economics teacher and JICA Desk Officer, Simiat Jumoke-Salau, said the intervention would seek to shift students away from increasingly common consumption of junk foods, biscuits, snacks and sugary drinks towards greater consumption of fruits and vegetables.
She argued that schools had a significant influence on students because many spend most of their waking hours within the school environment.
Jumoke-Salau, however, raised concerns about the changing curriculum at the junior secondary school level, noting that Home Economics had been replaced in some cases by trade subjects such as garment making and cosmetology, while nutrition-related learning had received less attention.
She called for renewed consideration of nutrition education, arguing that students could spend time in school from about 7 a.m. until 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. or later where extra lessons are involved.
“If we want behavioural change, we need to teach the students the theory and also practicalise nutrition,” she said.
Also speaking, Deputy Director, Agricultural Research and Development Secretariat, FCT Administration, Ude Ekele, advocated the development of school gardens as a practical tool for improving students’ understanding of food production and healthy diets.
He said every school should be encouraged to establish and maintain a garden to complement nutrition education.
The Federal Capital Territory Universal Basic Education Board also backed stronger implementation of the pilot initiative.
Johnson-John Edache, representing the Department of Social Mobilisation, UBEB FCT, said officials would take lessons from the training back to their directors, while principals should be sensitised to pay greater attention to the health and nutrition of adolescents.
He described the programme as an opportunity to restore adolescent nutrition to the centre of discussions within schools, stressing the importance of monitoring its implementation and documenting outcomes.
James Emejo
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