Nigeria's northern state records 1.6 mln malnourished children: UNICEF

Nigeria's northern Kaduna State has the highest number of malnourished children with over 1.6 million, the United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday.

UNICEF's Nutrition Specialist, Florence Oni, disclosed this while presenting nutrition intervention score card in the last six months in the state during a two-day 2016 mid-year review meeting in northern city of Kaduna.

These children are suffering from one form of malnutrition or the other which is responsible for the death of 50 percent of children under five years in the state, she added.

She told her audience that over 900,000 children, representing 57 percent children in the state are stunted; meaning six out of every 10 children less than five years in the state are stunted due to malnutrition.

Over 750,000 children are wasted, which implies that 47 percent of the children are suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and are 10 times more likely to die, Oni said.

According to her, the state government was already doing something about it, adding that much needed to be done if the epidemic would be address.

She added that UNICEF in collaboration with the state government has rolled out Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in March this year as part of efforts to address the problem.

She said 507 children from six to 59 months old with severe acute malnutrition were admitted into CMAM between March and May.

She added that so far, 138 have been treated and discharged, while two defaulted and five died.

She also said 60 health workers and 160 community volunteers had been trained and acquired necessary skills and capacity for the management of SAM.

The nutrition expert equally said that Community Infant and Young Child Feeding (CIYF) were also rolled out in the state to educate mothers on proper feeding of children. Endit