The Federal Government has revealed that over four million children in Nigeria’s Northeast and Northwest regions are currently suffering from malnutrition. This concerning statistic was shared by Ladidi Bako-Aiyebusi, Director of the Nutrition Department at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, during a strategic meeting in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
The five-day meeting, organized in collaboration with Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) and other partners, aims to address the critical nutrition challenges in the country and establish effective policy guidelines.
Bako-Aiyebusi emphasized the severity of the malnutrition crisis, noting that it presents a “triple burden” of macro and micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition, and overnutrition, all of which significantly hinder the nation’s health and socio-economic development.
The 2021 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey reported that nearly 4.4 million children in the affected regions are malnourished, with causes ranging from inadequate food access and poor feeding practices to low education levels and insufficient health-seeking behaviors.