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Jemila Adamu, a principal agriculture officer, Home Economics Division, Kwara Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is advising the public against the excess consumption of seasoning cubes in meals.
As a dietitian, Ms Adamu advised this during a media briefing in Ilorin on Friday.
The press conference, attended by other stakeholders across the three senatorial districts, was to enlighten the public on malnutrition, dietary habits, and locally available recipes.
According to the dietician, excess consumption of seasoning cubes was dangerous to people’s health.
“Many people rely too much on seasoning cubes to garnish their meals, which may have negative consequences on their health. For a healthy living, you can make use of locust beans, ginger, and garlic to supplement seasoning cubes. Our grandmothers then will rather add just one cube or half, and their soup will taste nice, and they live longer because they don’t eat the junk we consume in this present generation.”
Ms Adamu also condemned too much consumption of snacks and advised the public to instead eat quality breakfast and take their lunch to work.
“Maintain dietary habits by eating quality foods rather than relying on street snacks on a daily basis,” she advised.
The expert urged the public to key into home gardening to produce fresh foods to support a healthy meal at home, thereby saving money.
She said vegetables, okra, tomatoes, pepper, and spinach, among others, could be grown in the backyard garden and form part of a balanced diet for the family.
“Parents should also create time to cook for their family, rather than buying junk foods to feed their children. Provide foods rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, fat, carbohydrate, water, and other food items for a balanced diet for your children,”
Ms Adamu commended the Kwara government for distributing fertilisers to farmers to boost food production.
Also, Habeeb Lawal, project manager, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria project (ANRIN), who spoke on malnutrition, urged parents to save their children from stunted growth and advised mothers to optimally breastfeed their children and stop relying on breastmilk substitutes and other baby formula to feed them.
He attributed the increasing malnutrition rate in the country to a lack of information and awareness among parents and caregivers, “We need to communicate and create the needed awareness among parents and caregivers in both urban and rural areas on the importance of proper feeding and balanced diet.”
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