Throughout pregnancy, women need up to 50 per cent more nutrients than normal to lower the risk of stunting.
But research has found that women just aren’t receiving the care and nutrition they desperately need.
The number of pregnant and breastfeeding women along with adolescent girls impacted by acute malnutrition has improved dramatically in the last two decades, but has taken a turn for the worst since the pandemic.
Since 2020, it surged from 5.5 million to 6.9 million, a 25 per cent increase, according to UNICEF.
“Malnutrition is largely poverty driven,” said Dr Sophie Moore, a professor of Global Women and Children’s Health at King’s College London.
“The main reason for micronutrient deficiencies is primarily poor diet. This can be caused by seasonal, or climate-related, or natural disaster-related famine.”
‘Critical and important’
Rwanda is one of three African countries where the new multiple micronutrient supplements are being rolled out to target the women most in need.
Five districts with the highest rates of stunted growth in children are being targeted, amounting to 70,000 pregnant women.
The aim is to reduce stunting, when children are too short for their age, indicating that their growth and development have been hindered, from 33 per cent to below 19 per cent by 2025.
Mr Desie said that Rwanda is resource-limited and the diets of low-income women are often plant-based, meaning the essential nutrients are missed.
“It is a really critical and important programme in Rwanda,” he said. “The predominant foods are plant-based and contain insufficient amounts of micronutrients, particularly iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, 12, and vitamin A, which are typically found in animal source foods.”
MMS is delivered in the form of a tablet, capsule, powder, or liquid that provides a combination of vitamins and minerals in the right amounts.
The supplements contain zinc, folate, niacin, riboflavin, iron, iodine, and vitamins B6, B12, A and D, which are all considered particularly important in early gestation.
Zinc and vitamin D contribute to the development and function of the placenta, while throughout gestation iron, folate, zinc, niacin, and vitamins B6 and A support the development of the foetal central nervous system.
Iodine is important in early brain development.
