From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), yesterday, released a report that indicated 55 per cent of adolescent girls and women suffer from anaemia in Nigeria.
It also disclosed nearly half of Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of, at least, five out of 10 food groups, notably grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, among several others.
UNICEF said 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen, represent the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis that has been increased by recent impacts of COVID-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries.
It added that inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications, including during pregnancy and childbirth, thus risking mother’s lives with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.
UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, in a statement to commemorate the 2022 International Women’s Day, warned that the ongoing crises aggravated by unending gender inequality are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.
She said: “This nutrition crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition. Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come.
“In Nigeria, 12 million children, under the age of five, are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age due to malnutrition. About half of the figure became stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period when a child is fully dependent on maternal nutrition.”
To prevent undernutrition in children, Russell suggested adequate attention be given to addressing malnutrition in adolescent girls and women at all levels.
She also confirmed that UNICEF has scaled up efforts in countries hardest hit by the global nutrition crisis, including in Nigeria, with an acceleration plan to prevent, detect, and treat wasting in women and children.
Meanwhile, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Cristian Munduate, called for prioritisation of access of adolescent girls and women to nutritious food and essential nutrition services.
“The nutrition crisis is deepening among them, and urgent action is needed from all partners, including the government of Nigeria and the international community.
“We cannot afford to overlook this crisis, and we must work together to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women,” Munduate said.