UNICEF Urges Shift in Narrative as Plateau Leads Fight Against Child Malnutrition in Nigeria

By Uzairu Dauda Bunga:

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on stakeholders to change the negative narrative surrounding Nigeria’s alarming rates of child malnutrition, urging a more proactive and collaborative approach to tackle the crisis.

This call was made by Mrs. Philomena Irene, Nutrition Specialist at UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office, during a media engagement event highlighting Plateau State’s efforts in combating malnutrition. The state government, in partnership with UNICEF, recently procured Small Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (SQLNS) to improve the diets of young children and reduce malnutrition.

Mrs. Irene described Nigeria’s malnutrition burden as one of the highest globally, second only to India. She revealed that across the 36 states, an estimated 15 million children are stunted, 10 million are wasted, and 12 million suffer from anaemia. Alarmingly, two out of every three children aged 6 to 23 months live in food poverty, while the same proportion are not exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months.

She said, the global target for reducing stunting requires a 10 point reduction, but Nigeria is only achieving a 1.4 percent reduction annually.

According to Mrs. Irene, the Plateau state records 105 child deaths per 1,000 live births annually, additionally, 4.8 percent of children are wasted, 22.1% are anaemic, and 23.5 percent of women suffer from anaemia. Only 39 percent of children in the state are exclusively breastfed.

She said, in 2024 alone, Plateau State recorded 5,800 cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) among children aged six months to five years, Bauchi State, by comparison, recorded 115,230 SAM cases in the same period.

Mrs. Irene noted that malnutrition contributes to 45 percent of all deaths among children under five, saying the root causes include poor dietary intake, infection, climate change, poverty, lack of education, and poor sanitation.

She emphasized that malnutrition often sets in before the age of two due to unhygienic food, unsafe water, and inadequate feeding practices.

The nutrition specialist, stressed the importance of intervening within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life—a critical window for brain development, added that, intervening after two years of age has a reduced impact, benefitting only about 45 percent of affected children.

Mrs. Irene outlined effective strategies to combat malnutrition, including improving access to nutritious food, strengthening healthcare services, addressing socioeconomic challenges, promoting exclusive breastfeeding, and encouraging proper child-feeding practices.

She highlighted research by UNICEF and academic partners which shows that SQLNS can reduce child mortality by 27 percent, iron-deficiency anaemia by 64 percent, severe wasting by 31 percent, severe stunting by 17 percent, and developmental delays by 16 to 19 percent.

Commending Plateau State for its commitment, she said the state has contributed more funds toward the procurement of SQLNS than any other state in the federation.

In his remarks, the Deputy State Nutrition Officer, Mr. Silas Nansel, stated that Plateau has trained 650 personnel to carry out community mobilization and public sensitization on child and maternal nutrition across the state.

He urged families to take ownership of nutrition services, stressing that improved public participation is key to building a stronger and more sustainable health system.