Sub-Saharan Africa faces a “triple” burden of disease characterized by a high
prevalence of child malnutrition, increasing incidence of diet-related chronic
diseases, and the continued presence of the HIV epidemic. This program focused on
two areas of priority for Ghana: (i) child under-nutrition in rural communities and
(ii) childhood overweight and obesity in urban centers. When nutrition and health
education are combined with social support and skill building activities for
caregivers, poor growth and development of young rural children can be overcome.
Similar responses are needed to improve child nutrition in urban communities
where the increasing access to poor quality cheap foods and decreasing exercise is
compromising child health. Our overall objective was to improve child nutrition in
Ghana. This was accomplished through training activities ((i) establishment of the
University of Ghana’s Nutrition Research and Training Centre that hosts education
and research projects, (ii) graduate training for 5 PhD and 17 MSc students, and (iii)
creation of a community-based dietetic internship for North American and
Ghanaian students) and research projects on both child under- and over-nutrition.
Nutrition education through multiple sectors has improved rural diets and national
awareness of the growing problem of overweight among Ghanaian children has
increased. Current research and interventions build on these project results.