Malnutrition is easily associated with poverty but a stunning new report by the Population Reference Bureau has shown that about 15 per cent of children born into the richest families in Nigeria suffer from malnutrition.
A deputy director at the Federal Ministry of Health and nutrition expert, Dr Chris Isokpunwu stated this at a media conference yesterday, saying “Although the rate of malnutrition definitely increases with poverty, it is not a problem that is peculiar to the poor.
“There is no part of the country that is immune to the scourge which causes the stunting of over 11 million and death of half a million children in the country.”
Dr Isokpunwu said that even when there is an abundance of food, parents and caregivers are not well-informed about appropriate feeding practices.
He said, “There is little understanding about the essential types and varieties of foods that children require to grow healthy.”
“The cost of malnutrition during the first 1,000 days of birth is almost irreversible. It can result in brain damage, growth and development problems, poor educational performance and increased risk of chronic disease later in life.”
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