Journal of Hepatology and Gastrointestinal disorders
Open Access
ISSN: 2475-3181
+44-77-2385-9429
ISSN: 2475-3181
+44-77-2385-9429
Marie-France Lalancette
Nutrition Without Borders Coalition, Canada
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Hepatol Gastroint Dis
Even after decades of funding from the World Bank, Africa is still struggling with malnutrition above the critical threshold in many countries. Protocols to eradicate acute malnutrition have led to an increase of chronic malnutrition. In some areas of Benin, where the Nutrition Without Borders Coalition has been working in 2017-2018, it still reaches an alarming rate of 30%. The Coalition has succeeded in convincing the authorities of the benefits of a proactive approach based on prevention, which is the key to allow auto-determination of this emerging country when it comes to maternal and child malnutrition. The Higgins Method (OLO Program) has been well documented since 1976 where a study of 1007 mothers revealed that the percentage of low-birth weight babies fell from 9.8% to 4% when counseling increased from 1 to 12 weeks to 20 weeks. Perinatal mortality also fell from 21.6 to 8.3 rate per thousand. These compelling results have motivated the federal government to adopt the method as part of its national perinatal strategy. The program is now being tested in Benin. It is based on identifying the three foods that will fulfill most efficiently the deficiencies of 80% of mothers. Volunteer dieticians act as mentors to adapt this program to the realities of this country, where the field of dietetics is very young (7 years). Access to these 3 food items by means of a coupon system from pregnancy week 12 up to 6 months postnatal is the reward given in exchange of nutritional counseling, which is what improves nutritional status. The dietician acts as the pivot of all nutritional interventions. Since it has never been implemented in a third world country, this initiative is a first and its outcome will determine how emerging countries will address malnutrition in the future.
E-mail: nutritionfamilia@gmail.com