Malnutrition, national emergency in Nigeria –FG

The Federal Government on Tuesday said the country was faced with a silent national emergency-malnutrition.

According to the government, Nigeria is home to the third largest number of chronically undernourished children globally, adding that in order to address this development, a budget line would be created for food and nutrition in the relevant ministries, departments and agencies at all levels.

Speaking at the commemoration of the 2017 Nutrition Week in Abuja, the Minister of State, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, declared that thousands of children would die annually if nothing significant was done to address the issue of malnutrition.

Ahmed said, “Nigeria is home to the third largest number of chronically undernourished children globally, with about 2.5 million children under five years affected by Severe Acute Malnutrition. If nothing is done, one in five (500,000) children will die annually (global nutrition report, NDHS 2013 report).

Malnourished children tend to have lower Intelligent Quotient and impaired cognitive ability with resultant negative effect on their performance in school and productivity in later life.”

UCJ, UNILORIN.