A non-governmental organisation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), has said malnutrition in Nigeria is a ticking time bomb especially among children of less than five years.
The country-director of GAIN, Dr. Michael Ojo, stated this at a press conference to mark GAIN’s 20 years anniversary in Abuja, Tuesday.
He said some of the most vulnerable population in our country is children under five.
He stated further that the state of nutrition in Nigeria is worrisome, adding that recent data from a nationwide survey revealed that 79% of Nigerian household are insecure.
He said: “The state of our nutrition continues to be a big worry because just talking about food insecurity across the country, data from a survey found that 79% of Nigerian household that were surveyed is food insecure and 22 percent of that was severely food insecure.
“Other indices like rusting in children fewer than five has worsened and it is now 11.5 percent. It used to be 7 percent. Under weight, which is when children don’t have the right weight for their age is 25.3 percent. It used to be 22 percent.
“Also, iron deficiency is still high in the population as anemia is 62 percent in women of reproductive age. It is 55 percent but in pregnant women, it is 86 percent across the country. This is some of the statistics that is coming out of the survey which also shows that malnutrition is a ticking time bomb we need to continue to focus on in Nigeria.”
Ojo however, said the survey revealed that stunting among children has improved.
“Some of the other things mentioned are stunting in children under five. Stunting is when children have not attained the height that is expected of their age because of malnutrition. It has actually improved slightly from where we were in 2018 which was the last figure that we had from the National Demographic and Health Survey (NHS) when it was 37 percent,” he said.
Speaking further on how low income earners can maintain a nutritious diet, he advised them to grow some of the things they consume.
“There are quite a few things low income earners can do. In Nigeria, most of us buy the food we eat. Nigeria perhaps has the highest percentage of people buying what they eat. So most of us don’t produce what we consume.
“So, we can produce some of what we eat. People understimate the opportunities that exists to grow some of this things especially things that are nutrition such as vegetables that you can grow in buckets.
“Buy a couple of birds and obtain eggs from them everyday or even for poultry needs. Have a small tank to grow some fish for consumption,” he said.
Also speaking, Head of Policy Advocacy and Communications Joyce Akpata said GAIN is currently running 10 projects in 16 states of Nigeria aimed at reducing malnutrition by making safe and nutritious foods more affordable and for the most vulnerable in the society.
