By Chimezie Godfrey
The 13 years of armed conflict has left women and children in the North East part of Nigeria affected by acute malnutrition.
An Activist, Aliyu modibbo Ahmad revealed this in a statement made available to Newsdairyonline.
Ahmad stressed that congestion in camps and settlements, high rates of open defecation and poor sanitation practices have put conflict-affected families and children at the risk of disease outbreaks and preventable deaths.
He therefore revealed that the north-east part of the country is currently undergoing its highest rate of severe malnutrition cases since 2016″.
He said “Thirteen years of armed conflict in north-east Nigeria has left women and children in acute vulnerability. Congestion in camps and settlements, high rates of open defecation and poor sanitation practices have put conflict-affected families and children at the risk of disease outbreaks and preventable deaths. Insecurity, loss of livelihood opportunities, high food prices and COVID-19 combined have put millions of people in need of food assistance, drastically impacting the food and nutrition quality available for children in the region, nigeria first in Africa and second in the world among countries with the worst malnutrition cases.
“The north-east part of the country is currently undergoing its highest rate of severe malnutrition cases since 2016.”
He added “An estimated 2 million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition exclusive breastfeeding rates have not improved significantly over the past decade, with only 17 percent of babies being exclusively breastfed during their first six months of life. Just 18 percent of children aged 6-23 months are fed the minimum acceptable diet.
“The States in northern Nigeria especially north-eastern part are the most affected by the two forms of malnutrition – stunting and wasting. High rates of malnutrition pose significant public health and development challenges for the country. Stunting, in addition to an increased risk of death, is also linked to poor cognitive development, a lowered performance in education and low productivity in adulthood – all contributing to economic losses and with need to be tackle and with urgent life-saving services”.
