The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that 100 children under the age of five die in Nigeria every hour due to malnutrition.
UNICEF’s chief nutrition officer, Nemat Hajeebhoy, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting organized by the National Council on Nutrition (NCN).
According to Hajeebhoy, if immediate action is not taken, another 15 million children face “wasting,” a term used to describe children who become emaciated as a result of malnutrition.
“Every hour in Nigeria, almost a hundred children under the age of five die. So by the time we are done with this meeting, 300 children would have died in this country,” UNICEF’s nutrition officer said.
“If a child is malnourished, they are 12 times more likely to die. We know that today without urgent action, there would have been this year and next year close to 15 million children who will suffer from what we call wasting (thin children).
“This is an indicator that there is a crisis in the country and I would like to call it a nutrition emergency. There is a nutrition emergency in the country today. Nigeria is ranked number one in Africa and second in the world in the total of children malnourished.
“We have some good news, we have seen stunting come down over the years but that rate of decline is very slow. Moreover, this slow rate of decline is costing our economy 15 percent GDP loss to Nigeria.”
In addition, Abimbola Adesanmi, senior special assistant to the president on nutrition in the vice-office, president’s stated that the federal government has developed policies to end hunger in the country.
“The NCN as the highest decision-making body for Nutrition in the country, in line with SDG 2 goal of ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition, have ensured that national indicators are aligned with global targets through national policies, strategies, and guidelines,” Adesanmi said.
“On the policy front, the National multi-sectoral plan of action for food and nutrition in Nigeria (2019-2023), National Policy on Food and Nutrition in Nigeria 2016-2025, and Agricultural Promotion Policy 2016-2020 among others have been developed by the government with technical and financial support from development partners and stakeholders in line with national development plans and the attainment of the SDGs.”
Rasaq Oyeleke, the ministry of agriculture’s head of nutrition, stated that Nigeria will only be able to have a healthy population if the country can provide good nutrients.
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