At least 7.3 million adolescent girls and women of reproductive-aged 15-49 years in Nigeria are now undernourished, putting new born babies at risk, according to a new global report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday.
The agency revealed that the number of adolescent girls and women who are undernourished soared from 5.6million in 2018 to 7.3 million in 2021, stating that Nigeria is among the 12 hardest hit countries by the global food and nutrition crisis.,
According to the report, the 12 countries including Nigeria, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen represent the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis that has increased by recent impacts of COVID-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries.
UNICEF, in its report titled ‘Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women’, issued ahead of International Women’s Day warns that the ongoing crises, aggravated by unending gender inequality, are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.
“This nutrition crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition. Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come,”Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director said.
“To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” Russell added.
“To ensure a better future for our children, we must prioritize the access of adolescent girls and women to nutritious food and essential nutrition services,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Nigeria country representative.
“The nutrition crisis is deepening among them, and urgent action is needed from all partners including the government of Nigeria and the international community.
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“We cannot afford to overlook this crisis, and we must work together to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women.”
In Nigeria, 55 percent of adolescent girls and women suffer from anaemia while nearly half of Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of at least 5 out of 10 food groups (grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables, other vegetables and other fruits) according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.
“Inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications including during pregnancy and childbirth – risking mother’s lives with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity, UNICEF warned.
For example, in Nigeria, 12 million children under 5 are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age due to malnutrition. Of those, about half become stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period when a child is fully dependent on maternal nutrition, according to the analysis in the report.
Global crises continue to disproportionately disrupt women’s access to nutritious food. In 2021, there were 126 million more food insecure women than men, compared to 49 million more in 2019, more than doubling the gender gap of food insecurity, UNICEF said.
In Nigeria, the 2022 Cadre Harmonise analysis published by the government shows that 17 million Nigerians are suffering from acute food insecurity, and this is likely to increase to 25 million in lean season this year (FMARD, 2022)
The report, therefore calls for governments, development and humanitarian partners and donors, civil society organizations and development actors to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women by: prioritising adolescent girls’ and women’s access to nutritious, safe and affordable diets, and protecting adolescent girls and women from ultra-processed foods through marketing restrictions.
Others include, compulsory front-of-pack labelling and taxation; Implementing policies and mandatory legal measures to expand large-scale food fortification of routinely consumed foods such as flour, cooking oil and salt to help reduce micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia in girls and women, among others.
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