13.2% children in Oyo State are
underweight
About 200,000 Osun children stunted due
to malnutrition


The United Nations Children’s Emergency
Fund (UNICEF) recently raised fresh
concerns over the prevalence and effect
of malnutrition in the South-west geo-
political zone of the country, stating
that 22 per cent of children under five
years in the zone have stunted growth.


The UNICEF Communication Specialist, Mr.
Geoffrey Njoku, gave the figure in an
opening remark at a media dialogue
organised by the UNICEF for select
journalists in some states of the
federation, adding that it was erroneous
to believe that malnutrition was
prevalent only in the North.



Quoting a 2013 survey, Njoku said studies
had shown that malnutrition was
prevalent among children of the rich
people of the South-west under the age
of five, saying malnutrition was a
national problem and harped finding
sharing responsibilities on investing in
simple cost interventions.


Njoku, who narrated his Owerri
hometown experience in the South
Eastern part, Imo State, revealed that
13 per cent of children born to rich
families also suffer malnutrition in the
geo-political zone.



A resource person from the Federal
Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ogunbumi
Omotayo, noted that “Nigeria has the
highest number of stunted children under
age five in sub-Saharan Africa and
second highest in the world with 37 per
cent of all children stunted, 18 per cent
wasting and 29 per cent underweight.”
She explained further that infant
mortality rate was 69/100 live births, and
children under five years have 128/1000
live births, while only 17 per cent were
exclusively breast fed.


Mrs. Ada Ezeogu, the UNICEF Nutrition
Specialist lamented that the Nigeria
Nutrition Indices (2013) disclosed that
only 17 per cent of Nigerians engage in
Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF), which is
far below 50 per cent international
standard requirement.
Ezeogu affirmed that malnutrition was
not all about food but inadequate care,
knowledge, food insecurity, unsanitary
environment and other factors, which are
highly manifest in the six states of the
region.


She identified overnutrition,
undernutrition and micronutrient
deficiency as the burdens of malnutrition
in the country, urging more emphasis on
the 1000 days from period of conception
to when the child attains two years.
The nutritionist, however, said the
South-west was noted for good
compliance with the six months on EBF,
but pointed out that it fails in the
complementary feeding that follows
immediately after the six months EBF.


Ezeogu emphasized that if the 50 percent EBf international standard was adhered to,
killer diseases in children will be reduced
by 50 per cent. She canvassed for policy,
coordination and partnership to promote
EBF in the region and nation at large.
Also, the Nutrition Officer, Ministry of
Health, Oyo State, Dr. Khadijah Alarape
revealed that 13.2 per cent of children in
the State were underweight, a
percentage she said was a significant
improvement from the previous 17.7 per
cent two years ago.



She said the national percentage of
underweight children in the country was
about 19.4 per cent, adding that, apart
from underweight, stunting among
children in the State was 20.5 per cent,
while wasting was 7.3 per cent, advised
Nigerian mothers to give their children
exclusive breast milk for six months,
while breastfeeding continues for the
first 1000 days of the infant’s life.
She called on mothers to give their babies
breast milk within the first 30 minutes of
life, an approach she said was very
important to the survival and health of
the child. “Women should not throw away
the first breast milk after childbirth.
Colostrum is rich in immunity and it has a
long way in helping the child’s survival,”
she added.



She said to improve further the
nutritional life of pregnant mothers and
infants, the state has embarked on a
number of interventions. “We have
nutritional development centres in Oyo
State where soya milk production has
been subsidised drastically for women to
give to their babies. This has been known
to help mitigate the impact of
malnutrition in the state and we have a
lot of testimonies on that.”
In the same vein, a nutrition specialist
with UNICEF, Mrs Ada Ezeogu, said
195,245 children below five years were
stunted in Osun state due to malnutrition
.



Urging the state government to pay
attention to early child care that would
cover children below three years in
addition to its school feeding programme
in the state, she said 21.8 per-cent of
children in Osun were stunted and that
the situation may improve if the early
child care was included in the school
feeding programme.
Mrs. Ezeogu, who spoke at the parley on
‘Good Nutrition, Invest More’, said the
figure stated was generated from
National Nutrition and Health Survey
2015.


She commended Osun State Governor, Mr
Rauf Aregbesola for the school feeding
programme in the state and urged him to
take proactive measures in addressing
the current situation, saying that the
current 21.8 per-cent malnutrition level
in the state was not acceptable.


She contended that over 50 per-cent of
infant death in the country occurred as a
result of malnutrition and called on
government and stakeholders to address
the situation and prevent avoidable
infant deaths.
http://www.medicalworldnigeria.com/2016/09/unicef-22-of-children-under-five-in-south-west-suffer-stunted-growth

afonjas

Does not pay to dump eba, yam, beans and plantain for Idomi and spaghetti simply because the later two save time and is fashionably foreign.

OFONJAS

OFONJAS nothing is left for them .....

osun hahahah i pity dat state

dats southweste for u

Hahaha!

They are paying for their stupidity, good for them.

Diabolical suffercated people who their lives worth nothing without biafrans... no wonder they can't stop screaming one Nigeria. ..I will only take afonjas serious when they start championing for a country of their own.

Diabolical people who claims all goodie goodies, only to scream one Nigeria day and night...just mention BIA...and watch them go nut