By Omeiza Ajayi

The Federal Government has pledged to take steps to severely cut down on child malnutrition, urging parents and guardians to avail themselves of the expertise of healthcare providers in various facilities across the federation.

Saturday Vanguard had earlier quoted the World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, Dr Ndiame Diop as saying 11 million Nigerian children who are under five, have stunted growth due to severe child food poverty.

Speaking during an advocacy to Durumi II community in Abuja as part of activities marking the 2024 Nutrition Week, the Head, Food and Nutrition Division at the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Clementina Ebere Okoro who explained the phenomenon of “Wasting” said affected children are 14 times more likely to die than others.

The event featured measurement of children, as well as delivery of free nutrition kits to parents and pregnant women.

Unlike ‘Stunting’, ‘Wasting’ is the most immediate, visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition, according to experts.

She said the week is set aside to raise awareness on the importance of nutrition in the country.

“We need to provide the right information to the people with regards to quality and affordable foods and how to diversify their foods because no single food has all the needed nutrients”, she stated.

The Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning which is Nigeria’s Coordinating Ministry for Food and Nutrition in the country, organized the advocacy in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory FCT Primary Health Care Board.

She said there are Ready to Use Therapeutic Food RUTF that can be used to treat Wasting in children.

“We have a condition known as Wasting, which is when the child is too thin for his weight. Those children are 14 times more likely to die than others.

“We also have Stunting and it is a big issue of concern to government because we don’t want our children to be malnourished. The figures are not reducing and that is one of the reasons we are taking this issue of malnutrition very serious.

“We are doing advocacy to raise awareness on the importance of malnutrition.

“We are checking their weights and heights on routine basis to know whether they are growing normally. This is why we are going round communities to raise awareness so that they understand necessity of bringing our their children for measurement so that these children can be identified early enough and they can be treated.

“We have Ready To Use Therapeutic Food RUTF and I am happy that the FCT Administration has these in all its health facilities across the FCT for the treatment of children affected by wasting.

“For children who are stunted, they will not be requiring this type of treatment, but they will require information in terms of food diversification. The quantity is important as well as the quality so that we don’t continue to experience child food poverty”, she added.