DILI, 13 december 2022 (TATOLI) – The Coordinator of the Nutrition program of the organization Youth for National Development (JDN), Tinesia Pereira dos Santos, considered malnutrition a major problem for Timor-Leste since the country recorded 47% of children suffered from childhood dwarfism.
The 23-year-old woman from the municipality of Manufahi explained that the problem of malnutrition was due to a lack of understanding and knowledge of a variety of nutritious foods and a lack of access to health centers.
“There are many factors that cause malnutrition. The first is not consuming the variety of foods, they lack access to clean water, they do not have the knowledge to choose varieties of food and they cook in an unhealthy way”, Santos told Tatoli in Metiaut.
Since many still lack an understanding of nutrition food and hygiene, Santos said, therefore their organization taking the action to support the government in combating malnutrition.
“The action taken by our organization to help the Government to combat malnutrition is advocacy through nutritional education of mothers and young women because they have an important role in preparing food for the family”, she said.
She also stressed the importance of implementing a civic campaign through nutritional education for mothers and pregnant women to reduce malnutrition in the country.
Santos said the results of advocacy conducted by the organization in 12 municipalities demonstrated that most women complain of not having access to clean water, difficulty identifying nutritious food, and lack of access to health facilities due to distance.
According to Santos in a family, everyone is required to consume nutritious food four times a day, including breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner.
So far Santos explained that JDN was funded by young Timorese to engage in discussion and action to develop services to increase economic independence.
With the help of two advisors from Australia, the JDN has transformed into a national Non-Governmental Organization registered with the Forum NGO Timor-Leste (FONGTIL) and the Ministry of Justice in 2015-2016 and continues to develop the necessary skills to achieve personal and organizational goals.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia B.
