By 1999, the figure had shot up to 46 percent. The report will be officially presented to the government late in 2000. Once the researchers on the project have identified the causes, which Atinmo names as inadequate politics, recurrent infections, and insufficient maternal care, they should be able to fashion solutions. We need to encourage women to breast-feed their children exclusively for the first six months after birth. The number who do that now is only 20 percent.
Many women also give their infants supplements or water too early in life.
These practices may lead to infection or worse. Sometimes it doesn't require a lot of money. It just requires having time and information. As a teacher, researcher, and public servant, Atinmo has lived a full life and had an astoundingly industrious career. In earlier years, he was consultant to the United Nations University for a broad study that looked at human energy and protein requirements.