County Government of Laikipia

Lately, daycare centers are all the clamor for the young urban parents, in search of a balance between parenting and the workplace. The trend has seen a sharp rise in the children's care facilities in the urban areas in response to the growing demand of parents seeking the convenience of having the children taken care of as they engage in the day's income-generating activities.

The much-sought convenience is, however, breeding new challenges on many children's nutrition welfare, as quality is sacrificed in the face of affordability. The impact, for instance, is being felt at LHS Nanyuki's Nutrition Department, as the number of children being presented for nutrition interventions due to low-quality care continues to rise. This and other factors such as food insecurity and overnutrition are responsible for extreme nutrition anomalies currently at play - a sharp rise in undernutrition on one hand, and increasing overnutrition cases on the other.

We have seen a growing number of children who are under the care of the centers being brought to us for nutritive interventions. Jacinta Njoroge, Nutritionist Technologist, and Dietician explains. The results are costly interventions sometimes when the child falls sick due to weakened immunity and nullifies the intended wishes of the parents.

In August, the department saw 37 cases of children with undernutrition, with three being diagnosed with overnutrition. Of these, 27 were found to be at risk of immunity compromise, that is, prone to fall sick due to weakened immunity. This category of clients needs close follow-ups to save them from the risk of sickness, and are provided with nutritional supplements, therapeutic feeds, and counseling.

While the facility's nutritionists work round the clock to address these health issues, limited understanding of the drivers of malnutrition is pushing the prevalence up. The notion that only a sick person should be seen by a nutritionist limits the chances of early, impactful interventions. Consequently, avoidable cases landing at the hospital with costly financial implications in treatment are still the norm.

For instance, the belief that balanced nutrition can only be achieved through expensive foods is a hindrance to stable nourishment. This leads to alternative sources of affordable sources of nutrition being overlooked. For example, beans will offer proteins at less cost compared to meat, but few people appreciate this.

While food insecurity is the main contributor to undernutrition, especially due to the prevailing drought situation, inadequate care among working parents is a growing cause of undernutrition for children.

The medic explains that scarce information leads to caregivers giving their children enough of the wrong food, which does little to guarantee idea nutrition status. By hiring the services of a nutritionist, caregivers will be better placed to make the right dietary adjustments that are beneficial for healthy child development.

Drivers of malnutrition include food insecurity, insufficient care, harmful social norms, such as the notion that an overgrown baby being perceived as healthy.

The nutritionist advocates for frequent visits to the hospital for nutrition assessment, seeing that most cases are referrals from the facilities around. She laments that the practice is costly in the long run, should one develop nutrition-related ailments.

According to a UNICEF report, Kenya has more than a quarter of children under the age of five, or two million children, with stunted growth. Stunting is the most frequent form of under-nutrition among young children. If not addressed, it has devastating long-term effects, including diminished mental and physical development.

In addition, 11 percent of children are underweight, with four percent wasted. Wasting and severe wasting are linked to increased and preventable deaths among young children.

There are immense benefits that come with regular visits to the nutritionist. Healthy living aside, the financial savings that come with warding off nutrition-related ailments are immense, as some of the diseases are costly to treat.

Spread across almost all the departments, nutritionists at LHS Nanyuki offer support to 416 HIV/TB patients, 21 in the diabetes clinic, and 264 children under five at the Maternal and Child Health Department.