NUTRITION
Twenty-nine percent of Ethiopian women are malnourished, and 44 percent of children suffer from chronic under-nutrition. (USAID)
Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Good nutrition – an adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity.
Contrary to this fact, many Ethiopian women and children are suffering from different forms of malnutrition. According to the USAID, twenty-nine percent of Ethiopian women are malnourished, and 44 percent of children suffer from chronic under-nutrition. Both micro-nutrient and protein-caloric malnutrition are complications for children, may stunt a child’s growth, and have other long-term implications for their development.
Understanding these facts, SHAPEthiopia has been engaged on activities that seek to improve the nutritional status of targeted communities with a focus on improving the quality of health services and provision of hot nutritious meal in its school feeding program.
In the last twelve years, SHAPEthiopia have been providing hot nutritious foods to 900 orphans and vulnerable children in southern rural parts of the country in six H.O.P.E. Centers. In each H.O.P.E. Center, there are 150 vulnerable children included in the School Feeding Program. Children who live near the H.O.P.E. Centers get meals six days a week at the centers. But, those who are from far places and rural localities, though they could not come to the feeding places at the H.O.P.E. Centers, they are provided with rationed food items every month.
Our endeavors on this particular issue have brought tremendous impacts on the lives of hundreds of children and their families. School dropout among our children has been reduced amazingly and the school enrollment and participation of the children in our intervention sites is increasing alarmingly.