By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Poor feeding condition and acute malnutrition is reported to kill no fewer than 500,000 Nigerian children, under the age of five, annually, out of the over one million of them that suffer the condition every year.

Deputy Director and Head of the Nutrition Division of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu disclosed this weekend, at the 31st. National Scientific Conference organized by the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

Quoting figures from the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Isokpunwu who is also Nigeria’s Focal Person for Scale Up Nutrition, SUN, Movement, said malnutrition had become a major challenge that required decisive action to tackle in the country.

According to him, “almost 30 percent of Nigerian children are underweight, meaning they don’t weigh enough for their ages”, adding that, “the percentage of children who are wasted or too thin for their heights has also steadily increased.

“Over the last decade, it has risen from 11 percent in 2003 to 18 percent in 2013; we are indeed faced with a national challenge.” he stated

Dr. Isokpunwu regretted that the challenge was worsened by the fact that nearly four out of five Nigerian children do not meet the World Health Organisation, WHO, recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life.

He said, “the main indicator of childhood malnutrition is stunting, when children are too short for their ages. Stunted children have poor physical growth and brain development, preventing them from thriving and living up to their full potentials.

“Adequate nutrition during a child’s first 1,000 days, known as the window period, can avert malnutrition, ensuring that the child has the best possible opportunity to grow, learn and also rise out of poverty.”