The Nigerian Heart Foundation and nutrition experts have appealed to the federal government to fully incorporate milk and dairy products into its National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).

The experts, who spoke at the NHF’s 2023 World Milk Day Roundtable held at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, said that milk and dairy products would enhance healthier and more intelligent schoolchildren.

NHF executive secretary Kingsley Akinroye said milk and dairy products must be factored into the menu guidelines of NHGSFP to ensure total success.

“We are collaborating with the NHGSFP across states, and we have 10 of the states here with us today. We need to make sure that the school feeding programme incorporates heart-healthy milk into the nutrients school children are being fed,” Mr Akinroye explained.

The NHF chief added, “Not less than 80 per cent of the milk we consume today is imported into the country. We must do backward integration to improve dairy farming to make milk production go up for affordability. The new government must ensure the inclusion of milk in the NHGSFP and also make it affordable for adults to consume (milk) in their breakfast, lunch and dinner. The new administration should promote the consumption of milk.”

Calling for more investment in milk production, Mr Akinroye said milk should be consumed right from the womb to adulthood because it contains a lot of important nutrients.

The NHF boss noted that the nutrients contained in milk could enhance a healthy heart and brain and increase life expectancy.

“In the NHF, we are particular about milk that is heart friendly – low in fat, sugar and salt. We are advocating investment in dairy farming because it contributes a lot to the development of any country,” Mr Akinroye noted. “We have found out that in countries where dairy farming is important, they live long. We feel that our governments need to recognise this, not only the federal government but also the state and local governments.”

Olusola Olorunnisomo of the Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, said Nigerians should consider milk a “superfood” and not just for colouring tea.

“In Nigeria, we are not so much of a milk-consuming people, and it is very important to let Nigerians know the benefits of taking milk,” stated Mr Olorunnisomo. “Milk is a very worthy superfood that contains all the nutrients that we need for development in our body. As such, milk should form part of our daily diet.”

(NAN)