A Nigerian Mother, Latifa Lawal Unveils Initiative To Tackle Child Malnutrition

A Nigerian mother, Latifa Lawal, has unveiled an initiative to tackle child malnutrition as economic pressures continue to threaten household access to nutritious foods.

The project tagged “One Cup of Milk a Day” is aimed at giving vulnerable school children daily access to milk.

Speaking at the pilot launch of the initiative, in Waru, Abuja, the initiator of the project, Mrs Latifa Lawal revealed that the idea was borne out of a painful struggle to get her 10-year-old son to eat any form of protein.

This, she said, was a challenge that left the son with a stunted growth compared to his peers and triggered deep maternal anxiety.

Lawal, who works in the dairy sector, said she leveraged her knowledge of the nutritional value of milk and placed her son on a daily milk regimen that brought about outstanding results.

According to her, “he would not eat proteins such as eggs, fish, chicken, meat, nothing. I noticed he was getting stunted when he stood with his peers, as he was always the smallest, that got me worried, naturally, as a mother.”

“I was giving him a cup of milk daily, sometimes twice a day, and before you know it, I started to see improvements, though he’s not entirely where he should be, but he’s far from where he was.”

She further explained that children whose parents could not afford milk at all became a source of concern that birthed the initiative.

“That thought kept ringing in my mind. This is me who can afford to buy milk for my child. How about children who may not have that luxury?

The initiative, therefore, she said is aimed at providing pupils with a cup of milk daily.

She also said the goal was to be expanded across the six geopolitical zones to ensure that thousands of children receive the nutritional boost her own son benefited from.

Florence Adewale, Edited By Grace Namiji