3 in 10 Nasarawa children malnourished

Wife of Nasarawa State governor, Salamatu Almakura, has called the extent of malnutrition among the state’s children a “serious challenge” after latest figures showed up to three out of every 10 children aged under five is too short for their age and another 18 out of hundred are too thin for their age. Speaking at […]

Wife of Nasarawa State governor, Salamatu Almakura, has called the extent of malnutrition among the state’s children a “serious challenge” after latest figures showed up to three out of every 10 children aged under five is too short for their age and another 18 out of hundred are too thin for their age.

Speaking at a one-day sensitisation meeting on malnutrition Nasarawa State policy makers organised by Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) under the aegis of Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) in Lafia, Almakura said, “Even though Nigeria has in recent years made progress in local food, the poor nutrition status of Nigerian children has been a major concern.”

A 37% national average of stunting among children aged under five make Nigeria the country with the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa and the second in the world.

The five-year National Strategic Plan of Action on Nutrition targets interventions that will reduce stunting by 20%, push a 15% fall in low birth weight, double the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months by 2018, when the plan runs out. But is yet to be implemented across states.

Almakura said reducing deaths among newborns is possible, “if there is improvement in birth weights through better nutritional care of the adolescents and women of reproductive age before pregnancy and the lactating mother promoting exclusive breastfeeding, and good complementary feeding with continued breastfeeding.”

Nasarawa health commissioner Daniel Iya called the state’s malnutrition rate worrisome, demanding measures to “stem the tide of malnutrition in our dear State and to save our children of needles but catastrophic physical, mental and social handicap.”

He said Nasarawa’s health ministry was willing and able to provide policies, strategies and resources to fight malnutrition among women and children but needed support from agriculture, education and women affairs ministries.