The United Nations Children’s Fund on Tuesday reiterated that adequate nutrition is a fundamental right of every child and very key if a child will survive and thrive.
A UNICEF Communication Officer, Blessing Ejiofor, said this at a Media Dialogue on Child Nutrition in South West Nigeria, organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the Ogun State Ministry of Information and Strategy.
The dialogue was held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Ejiofor said the increasing rate of children with stunting growth in the country was unacceptable.
She said: “UNICEF believes that journalists can help set the agenda for action against all forms of child malnutrition – be it severe acute malnutrition or stunting.
“This, the media can do by creating heightened awareness among leaders and citizens.”
Ejiofor charged the media to do more to keep child nutrition conversations on the priority list of those that can act to reverse the ugly trend.
While speaking, a UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Ada Ezeogu, said 1.5 million children under the age of five in the South West Nigeria were stunted.
She warned that the rate of children with stunted growth in Nigeria is on the rise and that the current trend is delicates
Ezeogu in her presentation exposed journalists to issues around the nutrition status of children in Nigeria with facts and figures and warned that Nigeria may not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations unless the situation was addressed and reversed.
She lamented that the stunting rate in the South West was worse than the that of South East and the South South, but better than the North and the situation calls for more work by everyone, particularly the government, parents and all stakeholders.
In his keynote address, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State, Otunba Adedayo Adeneye, said there was the need to ensure adequate nutrition for children.
Adeneye frowned at the nutrition status of Nigerian children, adding that it has not improved in the last 10 years.
He said the Media Dialogue was aimed at evolving robust agenda for development, particularly on nutrition.
Adedayo said: “It is fact a that human growth commences from the moment of fertilization or conception, till death and proper nutrition is germane for this growth, which inadvertently determines the outcome of our life expectancy and the development of the society.
“A well nurtured generation, is sure to contribute meaningfully to the society, to engender development.
“Therefore, nutrition is a complex issue, which requires the participation and involvement of stakeholders at all levels, including the media and all hands must be on deck, especially now that Nigeria is at a critical stage of malnutrition.”
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