Nigerian girls and women suffering undernourishment can put newborn at risk, says UNICEF
The ongoing crises, aggravated by gender inequality, deepen a nutrition crisis that has shown little improvement in the last two decades. Photo: UNICEF. At least 7.3 million adolescent girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 in Nigeria are now undernourished, putting newborn babies at risk, revealed a recent report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
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The number of undernourished adolescent girls and women in Nigeria soared to 7.3 million in 2021 from 5.6 million in 2018, said the Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women report published on March 7, 2023.
Nigeria is among the 12 countries — all except two in Africa — hit hardest by food and nutrition crises.
The 12 countries — Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen — represent the core of the crisis, aggravated by COVID-19 coupled with war in Ukraine, ongoing drought, conflict and political instability in some countries.
The document examined the current status, trends and inequities in the nutritional status of adolescent girls and women of reproductive age and the barriers they face in accessing nutritious diets, utilising essential nutrition services and benefiting from positive nutrition and care practices.
The ongoing crises, aggravated by gender inequality, deepen a nutrition crisis that has shown little improvement in the last two decades, the report warned.
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It analysed data on underweight and anaemia for more than 190 countries and territories, representing more than 90 per cent of adolescent girls and women globally. Inequities in weight, height, susceptibility to anaemia, dietary diversity and access to essential nutrition services in adolescent girls and women are examined using data from national surveys.
Some 55 per cent of adolescent girls and women in Nigeria suffer from anaemia, while nearly half of the Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet, according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.
They are unable to consume at least five out of 10 recommended 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 and other vegetables and fruits.
Inadequate nutrition can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development and an increased risk of life-threatening complications, including during pregnancy and childbirth. It can risk mothers’ lives and may have dangerous and irreversible consequences on the child’s survival, growth, learning and future earning capacity.
South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are home to 68 per cent of adolescent girls and women who are underweight. Some 60 per cent of adolescent girls and women here are anaemic, according to the report.
The scale and consequences of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia in adolescent girls and women are being overlooked and under-recognised by families, society, governments, development and humanitarian communities, research and academia, media and the private sector, the document noted.
With the mounting pressures on food and nutrition security and rapidly approaching deadlines for the global nutrition targets, governments and their development and humanitarian partners — national and international — must take the lead in accelerating progress for ensuring nutrition for adolescent girls and women.
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