Eating too much sugar during pregnancy could affect your child's intelligence and memory, a new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine has found.

The study, found that when pregnant women or their offspring consumed large quantities of sugar, more than 50 grams per day, children performed more poorly on cognition tests, particularly those related to memory or learning, according to the Daily Mail.

Substituting diet sodas for those containing real sugar was also associated with poor cognition. Conversely, fruit consumption in young children was linked to higher scores on the same kinds of tests.

The Nigerian government has committed to secure US$300 million from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank to eliminate malaria in the country. This is contained in a statement issued by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018, which just ended in London.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says no fewer than 59 million children in Africa are stunted while another 10 million are overweight. The UN health agency also warned that Africa’s attempts to achieve health for all by 2030 could be threatened unless the continent address the twin challenges of under-nutrition and obesity.

Trauma Awareness and Resilience Initiative (TAR), an NGO, has called on the Federal Government to establish special trauma care centres across the country to mitigate traumatic experiences among children. Mr Francis Onyekwue, the Coordinator of TAR, who made the appeal said it was important due to the recent insecurity situation in the country.

Following perennial industrial action by health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions, the Federal Government has set up a committee to review the technical and financial aspects of the demands by the striking workers. Punch reports that the move was part of the decisions reached at a meeting of top government officials held on Sunday night on the crisis in the health sector caused by the ongoing industrial action.

Patients receiving treatment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu on Friday held doctors and some management staff hostage over alleged refusal to allow them access to medical services because of oing strike by members of JOHESU. According to a report filed by Vanguard, the aggrieved patients and their relatives blocked the main entrance to the hospital and prevented movements within the facility.