‘Nigeria home to second largest malnourished children’

By : Femi Ibirogba

Date: 17 October 2018 5:00am WAT

A malnourished child is fed a special formula by her mother at a regional hospital in Baidoa town, the capital of Bay region of south-western Somalia where severe cases of malnourishment and cholera are reffered by a UNICEF- funded health programme for children and adults displaced by drought on March 15, 2017. The United Nations is warning of an unprecedented global crisis with famine already gripping parts of South Sudan and looming over Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia, threatening the lives of 20 million people. For Somalis, the memory of the 2011 famine which left a quarter of a million people dead is still fresh. TONY KARUMBA / AFP

Nigeria has been described as home to the second largest malnourished children in the world.

TechnoServe, a nutrition promoting not-for-profit organisation, disclosed this at this year’s World Food Day.

The theme of the event was: “Our Actions Are Our Future: A #Zero Hunger World by 2030 is Possible,” targeting one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty.

The report stated: “Nigeria faces the biggest burden of under-nutrition in Africa and is home to the world’s second largest population of malnourished children.”

It revealed that one out of three Nigerian children under the age of five is considered stunted, and that their bodies and brains are deprived of the key nutrients that they need to fully develop and reach their potential.

It said a range of serious health consequences could result from poor nutrition, such as anemia, blindness, brain damage, and impaired cognitive function, plus increased risk of infant mortality, miscarriage, and stillbirth.

HarvestPlus Nigeria, a member Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), has also disclosed that hidden hunger; meaning deficiencies in micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals are prevalent in the country.