Nestlé Ghana has held a training programme for selected journalists across the country as part of its ‘Live Strong with Iron’ campaign.

The training programme, held at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra, sought to urge the media to stop excessive reportage on political issues and concentrate on health and nutrition issues.

Lead facilitator of the programme, Prof Matilda Steiner-Asiedu of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Ghana, said iron deficiency, although ignored, reduces national productivity figures.

Taking the 30 selected journalists through ‘Importance of Nutrition, Health and Wellness Reportage in Ghana,’ Prof Steiner-Asiedu said despite two decades of sustained economic growth and reductions in some forms of malnutrition in Ghana, progress on minimising malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies such as iron deficiency, remains a challenge.

“Ghana our productivity is not doing too good. Global Education Statistics shows that Ghanaian students are not doing well and it is partly because of this [iron deficiency],” she said.

Approximately 50% of non-pregnant and pregnant women and 66% pre-school age children suffer from anaemia, according to the 2017 report of the Ghana Micronutrient Survey.

The survey notes that “roughly 30% of pre-school children also suffer from iron and vitamin A deficiency. While 19% of children have been found to be stunted and 11% underweight in 2014 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), over 40% of women were found to be overweight or obese, indicating the double burden of malnutrition is present in the Ghanaian population.”

Explaining Nestlé Ghana’s motivation for the ‘Live Strong with Iron’ campaign, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Manager for Central and West Africa, Audrey Esilfie, said although deficiency is pervasive, many Ghanaians have little knowledge about the problem.

She said the campaign complements efforts by the government and other stakeholders towards contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing.

She said the unbranded ‘Live Strong with Iron’ campaign is purely a Corporate Social Responsibility drive of Nestlé Ghana.