Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) has sensitised no fewer than 100 Islamic Clerics from different sects to Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) in Kaduna.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that women under various religious groups, including, Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Initiative for Muslim Women of Nigeria (IMWON) among others were also sensitised.
The one-day public lecture was in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, supported by the World Bank and Center for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI).
Speaking to newsmen on the sideline of the public lecture on Wednesday at the JNI headquarters in Kaduna, Yusuf Muhammad, JNI’s Administrative Officer, said the essence of the lecture was to accelerate nutrition in pregnant women, children and infants.
He said there were thematic areas in improving the MIYCN which included maternal nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, hygiene, and complementary feeding among others.
Muhammad said the composition of the thematic areas were sanctioned by Islam.
“They are in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, but we need to remind ourselves of what we need as Muslims. No matter how hard the situation is, a man must provide for his family in accordance with his earnings.
“As women, they must also manage what the men bring to the table and maintain sanitation as well as wellbeing of the house,”he said.
The administrative officer advised the Clerics and Imams of various Mosques to stepdown the sensitisation to their followers using the pulpits.
He said JNI expected the various religious organisations of women to also stepdown the sensitisation to women in their respective communities through different fora.
Earlier at the event, the JNI Secretary General, Prof. Khalid Aliyu, said: “Healthy eating is encouraged in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).
“Breastfeeding is mentioned in chapter two of the Holy Qur’an and other chapters, they all stressed its importance and cleanliness is part of faith according to the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).”
Aliyu observed that it was critical for the Muslim community to strictly adhere to the Holy Book’s provisions on MIYCN to improve the health of the family, children and environment.
He urged the participants to scale down what they learnt to their followers, and communities at large during sermons, and other religions gatherings such as naming and marriage ceremonies, get-together, among others..
Also, the Coordinator of ANRiN Project in Kaduna, Dr Zainab Muhammad-Idris, said the organisation dwelled more on fight against the scourge of malnutrition, “because prevention is better and cheaper.”
Muhammad-Idris, represented by Aisha Jakada, ANRiN’s Adolescent Health and Nutrition Officer, said the project focused on utilisation of quality cost effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating married adolescent girls as well as children under five years.
“This is because, the groups are the back bone of the society. If there is malnutrition among the group, especially married adolescent girls, then there is problem,”she said.
She encouraged women to leverage locally available nutritious foods for complementary feeding and early initiation of breast milk immediately after given birth.
The nutrition officer advised mothers to breastfeed the infants for at least 1,000 days of early life.
One of the participants, Hauwa Idris, a member of FOMWAN, said the lecture was highly educative, assuring that it would be scaled down to rural women. (NAN)
