Malnutrition: 49% Children Under Five Not Growing Well In Nigeria-UNICEF - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
October 17, 2019
The United Nations Children Fund UNICEF, said 49 percent of children under the age of five in Nigeria do not grow well as they areeither stunted, wasted or overweight.
UNICEF Nigeria said this in a statement and addedthat malnutrition remains a major public health and development concern.
It said breastfeeding can save lives but regrettedthat only 27 per cent of children under six months of age were exclusivelybreastfed and an increasing number of children were fed infant formula.
UNICEF warned that poor eating and feeding practicesstarted from the earliest days of children’s life put them at risk of poorbrain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased infections and, inmany cases death.
It said the malnutrition level in the country shouldbe tackled and appealed to government, private sector, donors, parents,families and businesses to help children grow healthy.
UNICEF said healthy food environments for childrenand adolescents should be built by using proven approaches such as accurate andeasy-to-understand labelling and stronger controls on marketing unhealthyfoods.