Health Minister Neil Sharma told the local media that currently 60 percent of children less than five years old are iron deficient, 40 percent of women lack iron while 20 percent of men suffer from iron deficiency in the island nation.
Dr. Sharma, therefore, called on every family to grow local, eat local and move back to our traditional food habits, telling anemic, “Do not forget to take your iron tablets.”
The national advisor for non-communicable diseases, Dr. Isimeli Tukana said that strategies would include implementing the food and health guidelines for the country in all clinics.
All females are supposed to take their iron medication while all pre and primary school children will be given iron supplementation, he added.
According to Fiji’s Agriculture and Nutrition Department, the island nation, which is in transition toward increasing industrialization, is facing nutritional problems associated with both under-nutrition and over-nutrition.
Lack of access to food due to economical shortages is one of the major causes of malnutrition in the country as one quarter of the population is living below the poverty line and most are living in illegal squatter settlements in search of employment and educational opportunities in urban areas.
The problem of over-nutrition, on the other hand, may be associated with the change in the consumption patterns towards a diet high in energy but low in fiber, vitamins and minerals and a sedentary lifestyle.
In related news, a total of 454 conjunctivitis cases have been reported in Fiji this year compared to 345 last year.
