The food supplement is being distributed to girls in 58 public and private basic and three Senior High Schools and 87 communities to serve girls who are not in school in the Bawku area.Mr Emmanuel Adongo, the Nutrition officer of the Bawku Municipal Health Directorate, who disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Bawku said the Ghana Health Service provided the food supplements to complement governments’ policy on girl-child development.

Mr Adongo said about 5,299 girls in school and 13,140 out-of-school girls in the communities are being considered to benefit from the support.Mrs Mary-Stella Adapesah, the Bawku Municipal Health Director, said the government’s effort to improve the health conditions of girls had come at the right time since living conditions in the area was difficult.

Mrs Adapesah said the food nutrients, iron and folic acid would make the children healthy and active and improve their zeal to learn and improve on their academic performance in school.She explained that the nutrients would prepare the girls towards womanhood as many women suffered at birth due to lack of iron and folic acid in their bodies.

Mrs Adapesah said the food supplement would be administered every month to the girls and urged them to take it to promote their health.  Mrs Matilda Abolga, the Coordinator, Girl-Child Education Unit in Bawku, lauded the support and said the unit had taken steps to ensure every girl at puberty got the food supplement to boost their academic performance.

She urged parents to devote maximum attention to their female children since they were more vulnerable in society and needed the support of both society and parents.