UNICEF: 7.3 Million Nigerian Girls, Women Undernourished, Worsening Maternal Mortality
The number of adolescent girls and women aged 15-49 years who are undernourished has soared from 5.6 million since 2018 to 7.3 million in 2021 in Nigeria, which is among the 12 hardest hit countries by the global food and nutrition crisis, according to a new global report released by UNICEF today.
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,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come.”
According to the report – an unprecedented and comprehensive look at the state of adolescent girls’ and women’s nutrition globally – more than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition (including underweight and short height), deficiencies in essential micronutrients, and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and wellbeing.
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In Nigeria, 55 per cent 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.
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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, also, with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.
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 a new analysis in the report.
“To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women,” Russell added.
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)
Since last year, UNICEF has scaled up its efforts in the countries hardest hit by the global nutrition crisis, including in Nigeria. with an acceleration plan to prevent, detect, and treat wasting in women and children.
