Nigeria’s Under 5 Children Who Are Wasting Will Fill National Stadium 50 Times, UNICEF Warns
- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that under 5 children wasting away in Nigeria are about 35 million
- A nutrition officer, Nkeiru Enwelum, stated this during a presentation on the ‘Nutrition situation in Nigeria"
- The UNICEF official calls for improved finance and budget for child nutrition in Nigeria to achieve their full potential in life.
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A United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) nutrition officer, Nkeiru Enwelum, said the number of children who are wasting away in Nigeria will likely fill up the 60,491-capacity Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, 50 times.
Enwelum stated this while making a presentation on ‘Nutrition situation in Nigeria: An Overview of Malnutrition in Nigeria and its Impact on Children”
Source: Facebook
In a statement made available to Legit.ng, she said there are a total of 35 million under 5 children in the country.
According to her, out of this number of under 5 children, 12 million of them are malnourished while about 3 million others are wasted.
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“About 35 million of under-five children in Nigeria and out this we have 12 million of them mal-nourished.
“We have about 3 million that wasted in Nigeria and about 23.5 million children are anaemic, that is suffering (about 60 per cent of children in Nigeria) – from National Population Commission and demographic surveys.”
Describing the different forms of malnutrition, Enwelu said that children who have a low weight for their height as compared to their contemporaries are wasted while those with low height for their age as stunted.
The nutrition expert added that those with low weight for their age are underweight due to the lack of adequate and essential micronutrients made available to these children.
Enwelu emphasized the importance of the first 1,000 days of every child – starting from conception.
The UNICEF official said the first 1,000 days will help in the development of children.
Need for improved financing for child nutrition
She went further to call for improved financing and budgeting for child nutrition in Nigeria.
Enwelu explained that it will enable the children to develop and achieve their full potential in life.
She stated that massive improvements in the budget for child nutrition can save the lives of two million Nigerian children.
Enwelum added:
“So, we need more money for nutrition and more nutrition for the money.”
‘6 factors contributing to the menace of out-of-school children in Nigeria’, UNICEF
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Abdulrahman Ado, an education specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi Field Office, has said Nigeria contributes about 15 per cent to the number of out-of-school children globally.
Ado stated that Bauchi state has the highest number of out-of-school children in the northeast region.
NESG, UNICEF enter pact to combat child poverty
As part of efforts to combat the lack of early child development across over 50 per cent of the Nigerian population, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has entered a pact with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to combat child poverty and protect their rights.
This partnership became official in Abuja on Thursday, February 9, where both parties entered an agreement with a projection of tackling the risks against children to their top end by the year 2050.
Source: Legit.ng
