132 Children Die Of Malnutrition In Kaduna State

132 Children Die Of Malnutrition In Kaduna State

The Kaduna State Nutrition Officer, Hajiya Hauwa Usman has said that
no fewer than 132 children have died of severe acute malnutrition out of
the 12,858 hospitalised between January and October 2018 in the state.  

Usman spoke while giving an update on the nutrition situation in the
state at a two-day meeting in Kaduna, also said that 10,604 out of the
12,858 have been cured. The meeting was organised by Save the Children
International (SCI) to support Kaduna State Chapter of the Civil Society
Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) to develop two-year Nutrition
Advocacy Strategy.

She added that 187 others who have not recovered were undergoing
treatment.  “Currently, 11.7 per cent of children under-five years are
wasted suffering from severe acute malnutrition, while 47 per cent are
stunted (too short for their age),” she said and attributed the high
incidence of malnutrition in the state to poor maternal, infant and
young child feeding practices which has remained unsatisfactory.

“The Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, 2017, releveled that the
rate of timely breastfeeding initiation is 28.9 per cent, while only
19,7 per cent under-five children were exclusively breastfed. Similarly,
only 10 children aged six to 23 months were adequately and
appropriately fed,” she said.