The Kwara government on Tuesday lamented the low breastfeeding rate among nursing mothers in the state.

Amina El-Imam, Kwara Commissioner for Health, made the observation in Ilorin during the training of secondary healthcare workers on maternal infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN).

The training was for 120 healthcare workers in secondary healthcare facilities across the 16 local government areas for seven days.

Ms El-Imam emphasised the importance of breastfeeding and described it as the foundation of lifelong health and well-being for a child.

“Breast milk is simple and cost-effective, and a natural way to provide infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.

“Despite its proven benefits, exclusive breastfeeding rates in Kwara remain low,” she said.

She attributed the trend to cultural, social, and practical barriers to exclusive breastfeeding by mothers.

“Husbands, fathers and males should support their women during child nursing by providing good food, and others because of their infants and the mother.

“Mothers may not have conducive environments to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of their child’s life due to the nature of their profession or as a result of exhaustion from household chores,” she said.

“Breastfeeding reduces the burden of childhood illness, and the risk of being underweight, stunting, wasting and also increases intellectual development. Nothing should get in the way of exclusive breastfeeding, and the figures must improve by 2025,” she said.

Ms El-Imam urged participants in the training to show commitment and be ready to learn, unlearn and re-learn the best practices in child nutrition and health.

Also, Adenike Bayode, baby-friendly initiative desk officer, Federal Ministry of Health, explained that the training was crucial to equip health workers with knowledge on nutrition.

She advised the participants to make judicious use of the training “because they are expected to champion nutrition practices at their workplaces”.

Earlier, the director of public health, Oluwatosin Fakayode, explained that the Federal Ministry of Health facilitated the training in collaboration with the Kwara Ministry of Health.

He disclosed that Kwara recorded a great improvement in reducing under-five mortality, saying the former indices showed 74 deaths per 1,000.

Mr Fakayode stated that the present indices indicate 14 deaths per 1,000, which he attributed to the consistent efforts of the state government.

(NAN)