Malnutrition Kills 1, 219 Children Daily in Nigeria – FG
A malnourished Nigerian child[/caption]
A worrying revelation has been made by the Federal Ministry of Health that one in every two child death in Nigeria is from malnutrition, with an estimated 1, 219 children dying daily.
Speaking at a UNICEF workshop in Kano, Head, Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health, said Nigeria ranks as the second worst country in deaths caused by malnutrition.
Isokpunwu, who was represented by Tokunbo Farayibi, listed key malnutrition problems to include poor feeding practices, deficiencies in energy, protein, vitamin, iron and iodine deficiency as well as anaemia.
Advertisement
“The immediate causes of malnutrition are inadequate food intake, lack of diversity, infectious diseases,” he said.
According to him, the underlying drivers of malnutrition are food insecurity, inadequate child and maternal care, poor access to health services and unhealthy environment.
He stressed that poverty is fuelled by population, failure in governance and gender inequality, internally displaced persons, epidemics, cholera, ebola and natural disasters
UNICEF’s communication specialist, Geoffrey Njoku, who spoke at the workshop said nutrition is central to child survival and then development.
Advertisement
“The damage is almost irreversible…, a malnourished child will earn 30% less salary (than a nourished child),” Njoku said.
He said children with “stunted growth might never reach full development,” adding that more that a third of all Nigerian children are stunted”.
