The lowest common denominator: The case of Ghana's malnourished children
These are the boys and girls who walk several kilometres on our streets every day selling every conceivable item available and who breath exhaust fumes all day, who carry head pans and carry goods at times greater than their weight, who wait sometimes in vain to be picked up casually to be taken to a work site, all to irk a living.
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They are Ghanaians, and like the President and Vice-President and everybody else, will we expect them also to pledge ' I am a Ghanaian'?
Street children
Ghana has spawned third generation street children; born to parents and grandparents on the streets of Ghana and know nowhere other than the streets. In the Korle Gonno area of Accra, they find their way into St Mary's Senior High School to eat leftovers, and do so in the vicinity of all educational institutions in all parts of the country; somehow some children in Ghana are left to fend for themselves.
Ghana over the years has reduced the prevalence of malnutrition. The Ghana Demographic Health Survey (GDHS)1988 revealed that as much as 60 per cent of children under five years of age suffered some nutritional defect. If they were not short for age (stunting), they were lean for age (underweight) or a combination of the two, wasting. The latter referring to recent and acute food shortage or illness, leaving the children very vulnerable. Stunting occurs in households with chronic food shortage or chronic hunger and underweight when there is insufficiency of food. How could it be that six of 10 Ghanaian children were so distressed? The GDHS 2014 has revealed some improvement. However, 35 per cent of Ghanaian children under five years still have nutritional deficiencies, 19 per cent stunted, per cent underweight and five per cent wasting. As if that is not enough, we have three per cent overweight with more food than they need.
Child mortality
The result of all of this is the increased child mortality in Ghana. Over 50 per cent of child deaths in Ghana have malnutrition as a significant cause. Children who survive are in and out of hospital with recurrent illness, fall back in school or become dropouts of school and end up as the lowest common denominator; in most cases through no fault of theirs.
Food is needed to grow the body (proteins), to provide energy for the body to function and even for the internal processes of the body to work (carbohydrates and fats) and to protect the body (vitamins and antioxidants from fruits and vegetables). The absence of good amounts of these throughout the nine months in the womb of the mother and up to two years of age leads to irreversible brain dysfunction and loss of even the physical power to work in the future as adults. Brain development is critical in the first 1,000 days. It is akin to wiring a house and not using correct specifications of wires and an uncertified electrician doing the job.
Gross Domestic Product and malnutrition
Ghana loses 6.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually from malnutrition, equivalent to $3.65 billion, money that can do so much for Ghana. It is the reason for the statement that if you have malnourished children, then your economy will be malnourished, and Ghana's economy is most certainly malnourished. The study by the Economic Commission for Africa under the Cost of Hunger Africa (COHA) Project in Ghana revealed that 5.5 million adults in Ghana today, almost 40 per cent of Ghana's adult population, were malnourished as children with all the irreversible brain dysfunction and, therefore, cannot contribute to Ghana's economy but do many things that will weaken the economy. Ghana's economy is as strong as its weakest link and the weakest link is the lowest common denominator.
As adults now, they have children and feed them much the same way as they were fed as children. It is not surprising, therefore, that most of the malnourished children today are children of adults who were malnourished as children even though some children of university graduates and professionals find their way into this uncomfortable group.
We must rescue all these children today through concerted interventions to prevent them from joining the lowest common denominator group. Chancing on some disturbing statistics, it only proved the point that has been made. Of the unemployed 15-35 year group in Ghana today, 13.9 per cent had no schooling, 29.9 per cent not up to Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) level and 33.2 per cent completed BECE. In all, 77 per cent of the unemployed youth group had less than or up to BECE education, frightening by all prospects.
Child benefit allowance
In the United Kingdom (UK), every child up to 16 years is provided with a child benefit allowance which is not dependent on how rich the family is. It is intended to ensure that milk, baked beans, eggs and other basic nutrients are available to prevent malnutrition. The cost of that must be enormous but juxtapose that to the Ghanaian situation where $3.65 billion is lost every year from malnutrition. The opportunity cost makes sense.
The cost of an egg and a ladle of beans and two table spoons of groundnut paste per day may be all of 50 pesewas a day per child, and that will rid Ghana of malnutrition and save at least $2.5 billion per year (71 per cent ) of the GDP loss from malnutrition.
Since 1992 when Ghana took another plunge into multi-party democracy, the major actors have been politicians and high-level public servants, most of whom have made money for themselves at the expense of the country, and have no doubt in diverse ways contributed to the plight of the lowest common denominator. The wealth of some of these persons, including our three ex Presidents, can bring great comfort to the lowest common denominator and mitigate the daily suffering of these Ghanaians. Will they make that sacrifice?
The UK in 1945, the Beveridge Report concluded that there must be a minimum standard of life below which no British or person living in Britain should be allowed to live. As part of our long-term National Development Plan, there must be a minimum standard of life set, below which no Ghanaian or person living in Ghana be allowed to live. It can be done. The life of the lowest common denominator can be made worthwhile.