FG: 53% of Under-Five Children Die of Malnutrition Annually

FG: 53% of Under-Five Children Die of Malnutrition Annually

 Nigerian government today portrayed  an unflattering picture of the state of nutrition in the country, saying about 53 percent of Nigerian children under the age of five die of malnutrition annually.

The disclosure came as the government said it would to launch the ‘Revised National Policy on Food and Nutrition’ in Abuja today.

Briefing journalists on the maiden edition of Nutrition Week celebration organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said Nigeria ranks first in Africa and third globally with high burden of malnutrition.

Represented at the briefing by the Minister of State for Ministry of

Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Udoma said of the

53 per cent of children who die annually due to malnutrition, 1,200 die every day in the country.

According to the minister, the North-east and North-west geo-political zones rank top among the six zones of the country in the malnutrition index.

Quoting the 2013 NDHS report, the minister added that stunting is still as high as 37 per cent, wasting 29 per cent and underweight 18 per cent.

The menace, which he blamed on several factors, include poor infant and young child feeding practices, policy implementation, poor access to healthcare, water and sanitation and high level of poverty.

Although the nutrition-sensitive interventions remain crucial to devising solutions, the minister harped on the necessity of all stakeholders to achieve food and nutrition security to address the major causes of malnutrition in the country.

Udoma, however, assured Nigerians that the revised National Policy on Food and

Nutrition which would be launched today by the First Lady would address the problem of malnutrition, increase exclusive breastfeeding, increase the percentage of children who receive complementary feeding as well as reduce stunting rate among under-five children from 37 per cent in 2013 to 18 per cent in 2016, among other things.

While acknowledging the ministry’s collaboration with the Nutrition

Society of Nigeria in curbing the menace of food and nutrition insecurity, he solicited the contribution of all stakeholders to ensure optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians.

The Minis of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in his remarks, said the nutrition week was initiated to create awareness on the danger of malnutrition, especially in the North-eastern part of the country due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the region.

Mohammed said 26,000 children are malnourished in the North-east, a situation he described as a crisis of high magnitude, therefore calling for collaborative effort to stem the crisis.

‘‘The rate of malnutrition in the North-east region is a crisis of high magnitude.

The government has realised this and has decided to create this awareness.

“Every hour, five children die of malnutrition and 26,000 are malnourished in the North-east region.  It must be seen in the North-east region for what it is. However, the truth is that malnutrition rate is higher in the North-western part of the country. It is the activities of Boko Haram insurgents that made it look as if it is more in the North-east,’’ he minister said.

On the new free school feeding programme, the minister said the programme had been kicked off in some states and was expected to go round the country.