Nigeria is battling with several problems, among which is child malnutrition. The future of her children is being threatened by malnutrition; a silent killer which is decimating them in millions annually. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the media have just launched a campaign to tackle the menace.
This is not the best of time for infants in Nigeria. They are exposed to disease, sanitation problems, environmental deterioration, hunger; all triggered by insurgency, in the Northeast, militancy in the Niger Delta, kidnapping in almost all states of the federation and other social ills afflicting the society.
Malnutrition has become a threat to the survival of the Nigerian child but a campaign has just been launched by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the media to tackle the menace.
Concern for the survival of the Nigerian child and how to find solution to the threat posed by malnutrition was the focus of a Media Dialogue organised by the UNICEF, a specialised agency of the United Nations which has welfare of children as its major mandate, for reporters in the Southwest.
The media practitioners, who came from print, electronic, social and online platforms brainstormed with stakeholders such as officials of the UNICEF, health professionals, caregivers, policy makers and beneficiaries of the agency’s intervention where issues bordering on malnutrition were dissected.
The UNICEF recognises the media as an important vehicle of advocacy and a strong partner to propagate the message of best nutrition practices to boost child health through editorials, documentaries, features, informed commentaries; special reports, interviews with policy makers, community workers and mothers.
The forum reached a consensus that malnutrition is a general problem which is not peculiar to any region in Nigeria; as virtually all the six geo-political zones are battling with the problem. As it affects children of the poor, malnutrition also afflicts children of the rich, which many would find incredible.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, whose opening remarks was delivered by the Head, Child Rights Information Bureau, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Mrs. Rose Madu, described the problem as one that is common.
He urged journalists to use their platforms to educate policy makers so that the right budgetary allocations are made and funds released on time to tackle the challenges of malnutrition.
The minister, who revealed that similar forums had been held in Sokoto, Calabar, Kano and Owerri said bringing journalists together was an important step towards battling the scourge because of their roles as nation-builders.
According to him, statistics has shown that malnutrition has become a huge threat to children both in the North and in the South; hence the need for all Nigerians to join hands with the government to save the future of the younger generation.
UNICEF Communication Specialist in Abuja, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, said the problem of malnutrition required urgency because of the increasing infant mortality rate attributed to it.
He expressed shock at the findings made during a similar media dialogue held in Owerri, where it was discovered that a good number of infants in Imo State are suffering from malnutrition.
Njoku said: “I was at the Owerri dialogue and I was shocked at the level of malnutrition of children in Imo State. In the Southwest as well, we have issues of malnutrition and Nigerians expect that reports coming out of here would help address these issues.
“The use of social media has helped tremendously because both the Senate and the House of Representatives are talking about it; so it had become a national issue.”
Njoku revealed that 22 per cent of children under five years in the Southwest zone have stunted growth, saying it was erroneous to believe that malnutrition only affects the northern part of the country.
Quoting a 2013 survey, Njoku stressed that studies revealed that malnutrition was prevalent among children of the rich in the Southwest under the age of five, adding that research also showed that 13 per cent of children born to rich families also suffer malnutrition.
Giving an overview of Nutrition Intervention in Nigeria, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu, of the Federal Ministry of Health said there was need to give children balanced diet at infancy before much damage is done.
Represented by Mrs. Omotayo Ogunbunmi, Isokpunwu noted that “nutrition has a powerful influence on the child’s growth, development and productive life.”
Quoting statistics from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, Isokpunwu revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of stunted children under the age of five in sub-Sahara Africa and second highest in the world with 37 per cent of all children stunted, 18 per cent wasting and 29 per cent underweight.
According to him, the infant mortality rate was 69 in every 1,000 live births while only 17 per cent were exclusively breastfed.
In her presentation, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mrs. Ada Ezeogu, revealed that 50 per cent of infants in Nigeria die as a result of malnutrition, even as she advocated exclusive breastfeeding for children from age zero to six months.
Refering to the data prepared by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Mrs. Ezeogu also urged women not to deny babies in the age bracket breast milk on grounds that their breasts would sag.
She said the infant mortality rate could be reduced through adequate nutrition, adding that exclusive breastfeeding would boost mental capacity of babies and would help Nigerian children to become adults with great intellect in future.
Mrs. Ezeogu explained that babies did not need water when they were being fed exclusively with breast milk because 80 per cent of breast milk contained water while the remaining 20 per cent contained the needed nutrients for babies’ optimal growth.
She said: “Every child should be exclusively breast fed for the first six months. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of chronic conditions later in life such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes; childhood asthma and childhood leukaemia.
“Breastfed infants do better on intelligence and behaviour test than formula-fed babies.”
At the dialogue, some children who were hitherto malnourished but had overcome the scourge after the intervention of UNICEF field officers in their respective localities were presented.
Hassan and Hussein are promising twin boys who were deprived of the opportunity of enjoying breastfeeding by the death of their mother.
Health workers diagnosed them of acute malnutrition in August last year at their Gaa Ayegbade Settlement in Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Six months after the children were fed on soya-based enriched complementary food and guide corn; babies who could hardly sit are now walking and eating other foods
“That they are alive today is a miracle; they did not develop well, they were only feeding on infant formula,” said their grandmother, Hawawu Musa.
Abigail Babarinde, at the age of one, was unable to sit or walk but respite came her way when she was referred for treatment and her mother commenced feeding her with soya-based enriched complementary food prepared at Oyo State Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre, Oni and Sons Children Hospital.
Her mother, 21-year-old Aminat Babarinde, told reporters at the forum that she breastfed the baby for one month, claiming that the baby refused to be fed on breast milk.
She explained that Abigail’s rejection of breast milk affected her growth but she was taken to Eruwa General Hospital where the child was referred to a nutritionist who administered special diet on her.
The story of Abigail, Hassan and Hussein who looked lively during the forum, was a testimony to efforts of nutrition officers to prevent children from having stunted growth.
In her presentation, a Nutrition Officer in Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr. Khadijat Alarape, explained that 13.2 per cent of children in the state are underweight; a percentage which she said was a significant decline from the previous 17.7 per cent few years ago.
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