By Sukoluhle Ndlovu
One in every three Zimbabwean children is stunted as the country continues to battle a triple burden of malnutrition despite making progress towards global maternal, infant and young child nutrition targets, a new report by the Food and Nutrition Council (FNC) has revealed.
The findings are contained in the National Common Narrative on Nutrition for Zimbabwe, adopted this month by the Government and its development partners as a shared framework to tackle malnutrition and improve nutrition outcomes nationwide.
According to the report, Zimbabwe is on track to meet three Global Nutrition Targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition. However, the country continues to face widespread undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and a growing burden of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
“One in three children are stunted. About 28.9 percent of women of reproductive age suffer from anaemia. Only 41.9 percent of children are exclusively breastfed, and less than five percent of children receive a Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD),” the report states.
The FNC said routine health data also shows a rise in new cases of diet-related NCDs, reflecting deteriorating dietary habits and changing consumer behaviour.
“Routine health information indicates that there is a rise in the number of new cases of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which reflect on the quality of diets and consumer behaviour,” the report noted.
The council attributed Zimbabwe’s nutrition challenges to a combination of poor-quality diets, nutrition-insensitive food systems, weak social protection systems, adolescent pregnancies, child marriages and gaps in the primary healthcare system.
It said many Zimbabweans continue to depend on monotonous cereal-based diets while consuming excessive amounts of sugar and salt and very little protein-rich food.
“The diets of the Zimbabwean population are monotonous and of poor quality, characterised by high cereal consumption, high sugar and salt consumption, and extremely low consumption of protein-rich foods,” the report said.
The report warned that poor nutrition has far-reaching consequences, particularly for children, affecting their physical growth, cognitive development and future productivity while perpetuating cycles of poverty and food insecurity.
It also identified adolescent pregnancy and child marriage as major drivers of poor nutrition outcomes.
“One in three girls in Zimbabwe gets married before the age of 18,” the report said, adding that adolescent mothers are more likely to give birth to low-birth-weight babies who are at greater risk of disease, malnutrition and stunted growth.
The FNC said women and girls continue to bear a disproportionate burden of malnutrition due to biological, social and cultural factors, making them more vulnerable than men and boys.
The FNC called for stronger coordination across government ministries, increased investment in nutrition programmes and the promotion of healthier food systems, arguing that nutrition should be treated as a critical pillar of national economic growth and development.
It also urged the strengthening of primary healthcare services, expansion of nutrition-sensitive agriculture and social protection programmes, and greater investment in early childhood development to break the cycle of malnutrition and improve health outcomes for future generations.
