Adolescent Girls: Before Loss of Innocence.

(From This Day (Nigeria) - AAGM)

The adolescent period is said to be very important in the growth and development of a person. This is a time when diet for both the body and mind determines who and what the person will be in future, writes Funso Abdullahi, who attended a seminar in Lagos, which focused on the needs of adolescent girls

Biola, Yewande and Gloria are students of Queens' College, Yaba, Lagos. They are still in their adolescence. While Yewande and Biola have healthy appetites and eat to their fill, Gloria avoid food because she wants to compete for a beauty competition. She prefers to stay as slim as possible. Her friends' jeering call of 'lepa shandy' does not deter her, as she continues to eat next to nothing day in day out.

However, one day, in the midst of her friends she suddenly slumped, she was too weak to walk, her frightened friends quickly dialed for a doctor who diagnosed that she was suffering from anorexia. People with anorexia starve themselves on purpose and become very underweight, sometimes 25 per cent or more below the healthy weight for their age and height.

To enable her regain her weight and vitality, the doctor referred Gloria to a dietitian whocounselled her the classes of foods, why it is good to eat nutritiously adequate diet.

The above short but educative drama by students of Queens' College, Lagos brought alive the theme of a one-day seminar on adequate nutrition for adolescent girls organised by the Nestle Nutrition Duchess Club. Over 1000 girls from several schools in Lagos were at the event.

Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nestle Foods Nig. Plc, Klaus Wachsmuth, …