Nutrition
Folate and B12 deficiency in Ghanaian Women: The hidden nutrition crisis
When nutrition challenges among Ghanaian women are discussed, anaemia and obesity often dominate the conversation.
These are real and serious concerns. But there are two other deficiencies, folate and vitamin B12, quietly causing harm to women and their unborn children. They are less visible, less talked about, and yet their impact begins early, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Some studies suggest that about 68 per cent of women may have low vitamin B12 levels, folate deficiency affects a significant share of women of childbearing age, and many women do not meet recommended dietary intake levels for these nutrients.
Diet plays a major role. In many households, meals are largely carbohydrate-based, with limited intake of animal-source foods and micronutrient-rich options. Over time, this can lead to multiple nutrient deficiencies including iron, folate, and vitamin B12, occurring together. Low intake of iron, vitamin B12, and folate together puts women at heightened risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies or, in the worst cases, stillbirths.
These gaps often go unnoticed because they do not always show immediate symptoms, but their consequences can be serious.
Folate is essential for the healthy formation of a baby’s neural tube, the structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord, in the very first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. When folate levels are insufficient during this critical window, the risk of neural tube defects rises significantly. These are severe birth conditions, many of which are fatal or cause lifelong disability. Vitamin B12 deficiency compounds this risk further, as the two nutrients work together in the body’s most fundamental cell processes.
Despite their importance, folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies receive limited attention in public health messaging and programmes.
Women need to know about these nutrients before they become pregnant, not after. This requires preconception nutrition counselling, targeted supplementation programmes, fortification of staple foods, and education campaigns that reach women in communities, markets, and health facilities.
Ghana has had a mandatory wheat flour fortification policy with iron and folic acid since 2007, but enforcement and coverage remain inconsistent, and the policy does not address vitamin B12. Expanding fortification to include B12 and strengthening compliance monitoring would be important steps forward.
Leaders across health, education, and agriculture must place these ‘hidden’ deficiencies on the national nutrition agenda, because the damage they cause is anything but hidden to the families who experience it.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
Ghana’s economic conversations often focus on fiscal policy, investment, and productivity. But there is a cost that rarely enters these conversations.
The crippling, compounding cost of malnutrition. According to the Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) study, a landmark analysis conducted jointly by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, WFP, and UNICEF, malnutrition drains an estimated 6.4 per cent from Ghana’s GDP every year. That is not a nutrition statistic. That is a national economic crisis hiding in plain sight.
What malnutrition actually costs
Malnutrition costs Ghana in ways that are both direct and deeply structural. Stunted children underperform in school, earn less as adults, and are more likely to raise malnourished children of their own, perpetuating a cycle that spans generations. Anaemic women are less productive in the workplace. Malnourished mothers give birth to low-birth-weight babies who face higher rates of illness, hospitalisation, and death. Diet-related diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease are rising fast, placing a mounting burden on Ghana’s health system and workforce.
The cost of inaction on malnutrition globally is estimated at $41 trillion over the next decade, according to the World Bank’s Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024. a figure that far outweighs the $13 billion annually needed to scale up proven nutrition interventions. For Ghana, the 6.4 per cent of GDP figure represents billions of cedis lost each year through reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs, and compromised human capital.
A problem that pays to solve
The economic case for investing in nutrition is overwhelming. Every dollar invested in nutrition returns an estimated $16 to the local economy. Scaling up proven nutrition interventions such as breastfeeding support, micronutrient supplementation, school feeding, treatment of acute malnutrition, is not charity. It is one of the highest-return investments a government can make.
Ghana’s commitment at the 2025 N4G Paris Summit to spend $6 million annually on nutrition commodities is a start. But $6 million against a problem that costs the economy billions each year is a fraction of what is needed. Ghana’s finance and planning ministries must be brought into the nutrition conversation, not just the health ministry.
A 6.4 per cent GDP loss would trigger emergency cabinet meetings if it came from any other sector. Malnutrition demands the same urgency. Ghana must stop treating nutrition as a health programme and start treating it as the economic and development priority it truly is.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
Coconut oil is the oil extracted from raw or dried coconut. At room temperature, pure coconut oil is sold in jars rather than bottles. When heated, it softens or melts, depending on the degree of warmth.
Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids, and contains around 90 per cent saturated fat. It’s almost 50 per cent lauric acid, and also contains about seven other types. The oil is used in beauty products for the skin and hair, as well as for cooking. It can also be used in biofuel.
– Contains medium-chain fatty acids
Coconut oil is different from other dietary oils, because it is mainly composed of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), whereas most other oils are almost entirely long-chain fatty acids. This means that the fatty acids in coconut oil are made up of a chain of six to 12 carbon atoms, as opposed to the more than 12 found in long-chain fatty acids. This difference in structure has all sorts of implications, including how the oil is digested to how it influences your body.
-Has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties
About 50 per cent of the medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) in coconut oil are a type called lauric acid, which contributes to the oil’s anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.
– Skin conditions
Limited but consistent evidence appears to support the topical use of coconut oil for the prevention and treatment of mild to moderate cases of chronic skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis. It has also been shown to alleviate some complex skin conditions, such as eczema or psoriasis.
-Protects hair from damage
The lauric acid in coconut oil appears to have a high affinity for hair protein and, because of the way the oil is structured, is able to penetrate inside the hair shaft. This means coconut oil and products made from it may be useful in preventing the hair damage caused by protein loss due to grooming and ultraviolet (UV) exposure. However, more studies are needed to confirm this effect.
– Prevention of dental caries
Oil pulling is a traditional ayurvedic remedy originally practised in ancient India for the maintenance of oral health. More recent studies suggest the practice of using coconut oil may be beneficial for the prevention of dental caries by reducing plaque formation and gingivitis. However, limitations in sample sizes and duration means a larger number of well-designed randomised controlled trials are needed to determine the true value of coconut oil for this purpose. Healthline.com
