Ms Amiyuure was speaking at a stakeholder’s forum in Bolgatanga to tackle issues like malnutrition, exclusive breast feeding, early and forced marriages and open defecation. 

 

       It was organised by the Integrated Youth Needs and Welfare (INTYON) with support from UNICEF and attracted students, teachers, officials from the Ghana Education Service, Department of Children, and the Media among others.

 

 

      Ms Amiyuure, who attributed the poor performance of pupils to malnutrition, said the phenomenon was worse in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

 

      Whilst lauding the efforts of successive governments for introducing the School Feeding Programme to help combat malnutrition among school children, Ms Amiyuure called on the Government to resource and empower caterers under the programme to ensure that they provided balanced diet for the children. 

 

      

 

     She urged parents to provide food items such as beans, bambara beans, millet and maize which are rich in nutrients and could help balance the nutritional needs of their children.

 

 

     Ms Amiyuure cautioned parents to desist from being extravagant in their social lives, especially during funerals, and rather ensure that their children’s basic needs were met. 

 

 

     She said the Municipal Health Directorate was working hard to change attitudes of parents to pay more attention to their children’s nutritional needs.