Baby Grubz tackles malnutrition via food sensory play
Baby Grubz is an indigenous Nigerian baby food production company, which promotes gender inclusion through the sales of her natural complementary meals for children six months to five years.
Mum-In-Chief, Baby Grubz Nigeria, Seun Sangoleye, at Grubz Food Sensory Play Event, held last week in Lagos, said: “Our meals are made from locally sourced iron and protein rich ingredients that combats malnutrition; specifically in underweight children to help improve their nutritional status and also to directly empower the mothers to earn a living through our women-only distribution system for financial empowerment. “Our mission as an organization is to reduce malnutrition, by reducing force-feeding, picky eating and other unwholesome feeding habits while helping parents learn better techniques to help feed their children better.”
The Grubz Food Sensory Play Event is a bi-annual event that was designed to help children interact better with food without force or fuss. Sangoleye said this novel event effectively helps caregivers see food through the eyes of a child. “Children are growing and learning new tastes, flavors, colours and textures. They are also being aware of the world around them. If a child throws food away, it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to eat it. At that time, the child may be interested in seeing splash patterns or wondering if the food will bounce Bank. We want to teach parents and caregivers other creative alternatives to force feeding,” she said.
Sangoleye said these deaths are all nutrition related and it is high time we seek out of the box solutions to tackle it as it is a threat to our future even as a country. She said high rates of malnutrition pose significant public health and development challenges for the country. “Stunting, in addition to an increased risk of death, is also linked to poor cognitive development, a lowered performance in education and low productivity in adulthood – all contributing to economic losses estimated to account for as much as 11 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”
Sangoleye added: “Encouraging children to play with food while exploring their senses of smell, sights, sound, taste and feel.”She said Baby Grubz would continue to engage sectors of the society that directly impacts the health of children especially less than five years to provide them with invaluable knowledge of food sensory play.
These includes child care centers/schools, families, religious institutions and online parenting communities to equip them with the simple tools that they need to help kids be more active, eat better, and get healthy. To promote healthy eating, Grubz Food Sensory Play seeks to demonstrate, teach and provide resources in these areas: physical activity for children; balanced meal planning; creative food play with everyday staples; food safety practices; and recommended foods for healthy growth.
Sangoleye said their key objective is for all participants to be equipped about making healthy choices for their children in an entertaining and appealing way with the awareness of the simple tools and activities they need to help their kids eat better and thrive beyond the first five years.She said their strategic partners are online communities: play and learn Nigeria; the cuddle blog Nigeria and Baby Chef Nigeria.
