‘41% of Nigerian children stunted’

Posted by admin Headlines Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Forty-one per cent of Nigerian children under five years of age are stunted, 23 per cent underweight and 14 per cent have wasted limbs. This disclosure was made by Professor Oladimeji Oladepo, Dean Faculty of Public Health, Univesity of Ibadan, while quoting the 2008 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey report.

He said this during his welcome address as chairman of a workshop organised by Nestle Nutrition Institute Africa (NNIA) with the theme, “Good Infant Nutrition, a Healthy Start,” held at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan on Tuesday.

It was noted during the programme that the period of rapid growth of newborn babies lasts for only the first 18 months, during which their brain grow rapidly.

However, if proper nutrition is not given to them at this stage of their lives, growth deficiency would occur that would last throughout their lifetime.

One of the resource persons, the NNIA coordinator, Anglophone countries, Mrs Chioma Emme Nwachukwu, who spoke on the “Physiology of the Infant,” highlighted the fact that while ‘’catch-up growth’’ was possible for children that were malnourished during the first 18 months, the same could not be said concerning their mental development; implying that proper nutrition at that early stage was crucial for intellectual soundness.

Professor Oladapo declared that young mothers ought to care more about the health and well being of their children rather than their looks.

He, however, noted that in cases where breast feeding was not possible by a young mother possibly due to medical condition, appropriate feeding formula which had been developed by some nutritional health companies should be given to the child.

The workshop was organised by NNIA in collaboration with the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan.

-Tribunewp_posts