The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Nutrition Specialist, Akure Field Office, Mrs Ada Ezeogu says over 1.5 million children under five years in the South-West and Edo need urgent intervention to address their stunted growth. Mrs Ada Ezeogu, made this known on Tuesday at a two-day media interaction on child nutrition in the South-West, organized by the Ogun state Ministry of Information in conjunction with UNICEF in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
She disclosed that an estimated 17 million or 43.6 per cent of children in Nigeria under the age of five have their bodies and minds limited by stunting, stressing that in the South-West, Ogun has the highest incidence with 26.1 per cent or 277,462 children.
The nutrition specialist described stunting as a “manifestation of the severe, irreversible physical and cognitive damage” caused by chronic malnutrition early in a child which is one of the most significant barriers to human development.
Mrs Ada Ezeogu identified the challenges faced by the affected states as absence of policy on adolescent nutrition, shortage or lack of maternity leave, non-enforcement of the code of marketing of breast milk substitutes, and lack of workplace protection and support for nursing mothers.
“It is quite alarming to note that a large percentage of the young children in Nigeria is either undernourished or micro-nutrient deficient, while some even suffer from over-nourishment, otherwise called obesity. We cannot continue to fold our hands and stand aloof with such issues staring us in the face, most especially, when those affected are the vulnerable in society.
These are under five, who have no voice and are definitely looking up to us to proffer solutions to their plights,” he said.
