The National Advisor for Non Communicable Diseases, Doctor Isimeli Tukana said that malnutrition in Fiji is not due to lack of food but the food that people are eating.
Dr Tukana said that Fiji has abundance of food however, parents should choose the best and affordable food for their children to avoid malnutrition.
“That has become a problem area for us trying to teach and trying to empower people to choose the right type of food. So the issue of malnutrition in Fiji the major causes is intellectual I feel”.
It has been revealed that seven children have died due to malnutrition so far this year while 17 children died last year.
Dr Raina Prasad said that there were 32 children suffering from malnutrition in 2007, the number rose to 140 last year and for the first three months of this year, they have received 52 reported cases.
She has called for malnutrition to be included in the Non Communicable Disease program which mostly looks at obesity however malnutrition is also an NCD case.
She said the growth assessment of children after they are born is very important at the clinics and whenever there is a drop in a child's weight, the matter should be looked into seriously.
Story by: Sneh Chaudhry and Filipe Naikaso
