Lack of proper breastfeeding techniques and poor dieting intake has left 42 percent of children between the age of 6 to 23 months stunted in Kano State

Murtala Inuwa, the Deputy Director, Family Health and Nutrition, Kano State Primary Healthcare Management Board, made this known today at the annual dialogue on giving voice and visibility to Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition.

The media dialogue was organised in collaboration with the Alive and Thrive Initiative

He said, “Kano is the most populous state in Nigeria with 810,000 children aged 6–23 months. Stunting affects 46 per cent of under-five children in Kano state.

“Only 30 percent of children 6–23 months in Kano consume food from 5 varieties of foods daily and only 40.5 percent consume a meal at an ideal number of times daily.

“Only 14.6 percent consume Minimum Acceptable Diet, only 28.7 percent consume meat, 12.3 percent consume dairy and 2 percent consume eggs.”

He however, offer opportunity that will help to address the rising issue, noting that the first 1000 days of life, starting from the mother’s pregnancy to the child’s second birthday, can be used to prevent undernutrition and its effects.

“The first 1,000 days of life, from the start of a woman’s pregnancy to a child’s second birthday offer an extraordinary window of opportunity for preventing undernutrition and its consequences. From conception to 2 years represents a ‘critical window of opportunity’ for the promotion of optimal growth, health and development.

“Actions targeted at this critical period, such as widely accepted and evidence-based interventions, including Exclusive Breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life beginning with Early Initiation, discouraging prelacteal feeds and bottle feeding.

“Appropriate complementary foods from 6 months with continued Breastfeeding for up to 2 years, micronutrient supplementation for women and children to address deficiencies.

“These investments in nutrition, particularly in the earliest years of life, can yield dramatic results for children, their families, and communities.

Most instances of stunting occur during the first thousand days when complementary feeding plays a major role. Poor Dietary Diversity is a risk factor for stunting among children aged 6 – 23 months.

“Children 6-23 months who consumed fewer food groups were 34% more likely to be stunted compared to those who consumed 5 or more food groups.

Children who did not consume any animal source foods (ASF) were 44 % more likely to be stunted compared to children who consumed all three types of ASF (egg, meat, and dairy)” he said.

Speaking further, the Deputy Director said: “The risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, or after an abortion for a Nigerian woman is 1 in 22 compared to 1 in 49,000 in developed countries. 95% of these deaths are preventable.

“Nigeria loses about 2,313 children daily, translating to 844,321 under-five children deaths annually, close to half of which are due to malnutrition.”