Ilemela records 99.2pc healthy children in screening

MWANZA: A TOTAL of 8,527 children, equivalent to 99.2 per cent of the 8,599 screened, have been found to have good nutritional status in Ilemela Municipal Council, Mwanza Region, as authorities intensify efforts to tackle malnutrition among vulnerable children.

The findings were presented by Ilemela Municipal Nutrition Officer, Ms Pili Kassim during a meeting of the Municipal Nutrition Committee, which reviewed the implementation of nutrition interventions during the first quarter of the 2026/2027 financial year, covering July to September.

Ms Kassim said the assessment identified 72 children with nutritional challenges, including stunting, wasting and underweight conditions.

“Following these findings, nutritional education and close counselling were immediately provided to the families of affected children to help improve their nutritional status,” she said.

She said the municipality had also recorded progress in child health screening and introduced additional strategies to strengthen school feeding programmes in primary and secondary schools.

“These strategies include establishing demonstration farms within school premises, making nutrition a permanent agenda item in major meetings and working closely with parents on arrangements for food contributions,” she said.

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Ms Kassim added that other interventions implemented during the quarter included medical treatment for malnourished children under five, nutrition education for adolescents and communitywide health screening and awareness campaigns.

Acting Ilemela Municipal Director Mr Sylvester Murimi directed the Health Department to strengthen food safety inspections and ensure that appropriate legal action was taken against individuals and businesses violating food safety regulations.

“I instruct the Health Officer to ensure that strict and appropriate legal action is taken against anyone violating food safety regulations during inspections, in order to protect the public from preventable diseases,” he said.

Mr Murimi also called for greater involvement of religious leaders in promoting proper nutrition and encouraging communities to support school feeding initiatives.

“We need to engage religious leaders to help educate their congregations about nutrition and the vital importance of school meals,” he said.