Nasiru is five years old, but he looks like a child of three years because of a condition known as Severe Acute Malnutrition. Compared to other normal children, he has a rapid weight loss which means he no longer has a diet that is diverse or substantial enough to meet his minimal energy requirements.
Jamila Mohammed, his 26-year-old mother, who was at the Yelwa Tudu Primary Health Care, said it all that she was seeking was a solution to Nasiru’s condition.
Jamila attends regular clinics every Wednesday and Thursday where she receives advice on home care and treatment, including packets of ready-to-use therapeutic food.
According to Jamila, Nasiru is her fourth child, but coping with his condition has affected the family’s finances as a large chunk of the family income is channeled to his treatment. She said that her husband, Mallam Kobi, is a peasant farmer and does not earn enough while she is a housewife who engages in small scale business.
“I noticed something was wrong in the growth of Nasiru. He falls sick often, looks weak and cannot play as other children do. When I brought him to this health facility, he was diagnosed of malnutrition. We have commenced treatment and he is gradually improving,” she said
Just like Nasiru, many children in the country, particularly in the Northeast Nigeria suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
Acute malnutrition occurs when a child experiences a dramatic decrease in energy and nutrients over a short period of time. SAM is caused by a significant imbalance between nutrition intake and individual needs.
According to National Bureau of Statistics’ Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2021), the practice of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) is lower in Bauchi State compared to North East region and the national rates, except for minimum meal frequency.
The survey indicates that frequency of exclusive breastfeeding, which is the first line of nutrition for children aged zero to six months, is a mere 26 percent, while minimum dietary diversity in children is only 17 percent (the lowest in the North East).
Also, the MICS 2021 indicates that the minimum acceptable diet for children in Bauchi State is only four percent as against nine percent in the entire North East and 12 percent nationally.
These data are a clear indication of how children nutrition is faring in Bauchi State. What this means is that there is a threat to future human capital resource in Bauchi State.
Therefore, in a bid to combat infant malnutrition and enhance child survival rates, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through its Bauchi Field Office (BFO), has conducted complementary feeding initiatives across three local government areas in Gombe State as a pilot programme that states in the affected region, especially Bauchi, can replicate.
One of these local government areas is Kaltungo which has become a focal point for the project. At a recent field visit to the facility in Kalorgu Community in Kaltungo LGA, the Local Government Nutrition Facilitator, Ladi Abdullahi, detailed the efforts being made to educate women on preparing complementary supplements foods for infants using locally-sourced ingredients.
Abdullahi emphasised the importance of using accessible and cost-effective foods such as orange-fleshed potatoes, spinach, sorghum, and moringa leaves, all enriched with vitamin A. She also highlighted an innovative aspect of the project: the distribution of potato vines to families for backyard cultivation which initiative ensures that nutrient-rich foods are readily available within the community.
A staff of the facility, Naomi Joseph, who is involved in training mothers and caregivers, pointed out a significant challenge—the lack of access to clean water, which is crucial for cultivating and processing these nutritious foods urging the government and other stakeholders to support UNICEF’s mission to reduce infant malnutrition, particularly in Northern Nigeria.
This initiative reflects UNICEF’s commitment to improving child nutrition and survival through sustainable, community-based approaches that emphasizes the necessity of economic growth, poverty reduction, and access to skilled health workers to combat infant malnutrition in Northern Nigeria.
This message was highlighted by the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office during a two-day media dialogue on age-appropriate complementary feeding for children aged six to 23 months, held in Gombe.
The event, organised for journalists from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba States, featured a field visit to the Kalorgu Primary Health Care Centre in Kaltungo LGA where women were educated on preparing nutritious, home-grown foods.
Philomena Irene, a nutrition specialist from the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, explained that UNICEF’s efforts to prevent malnutrition include educating mothers and caregivers on proper child feeding practices and providing free micronutrient supplements to children and pregnant women.
Irene emphasised that during the critical period of 6 to 23 months, infants should receive breast milk and complementary foods to ensure healthy growth.
Irene, set the stage by presenting a paper titled: “Improving young children’s diet during complimentary feeding of between six to 23 months.”
She said that normal child brain development is 25 percent at birth, but in a malnourished child, brain development is only five percent.
For a child of two years, the brain develops between 50- 75 percent while that of a malnourished child is at 25 percent.
For a child of five years, the brain development is at 90 percent while that of a malnourished child is at only 40 percent.
According to her, the prevalence of stunting sets in as early as 0-23 months, adding that the case becomes late between 24-59 months.
She said that wasting, stunting and micronutrients deficiency threatens the survival, growth and development of young children as well as the societies and economy of the state.
Irene said that one of the causes of Severe Acute Malnutrition is child poverty which is children’s inability to access and consume a minimum of diverse diet in early childhood.
“To meet the minimum dietary diversity for healthy growth and development, children need to consume foods from at least five out of the eight recommended food groups which include breast milk, grains, root, tubers, plantain, beans, nuts and seeds. Others include milk, infant formula, yoghurt, cheese, meat, fish, organ meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables,” she said.
Giving an overview of the nutrition situation of children six to 23 months in the BFO states of Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba, she said that Adamawa State has a population of 4.9 million people and out of the number, only 20,824 children between six and 23 months meet the minimum requirement of acceptable diet.
“Bauchi State has a population of 8.3 million people, out of the number, only 11,965 children meet the minimum requirement of acceptable diet. Gombe State has a population of 3.9 million people, out of which only 11, 982 children meet the minimum requirement of acceptable diet. Plateau has a population of 4.7 people out of which 16,480 children meet the minimum requirement of acceptable diet while Taraba has a population of 3.6 million people, out of which only 31,987 children meet the minimum requirement of acceptable diet,” she said
Some mothers at the Kalorgu Primary Health Care Centre including Samira Yakubu and Sandra Bala expressed their gratitude to UNICEF for promoting exclusive breastfeeding and introducing complementary foods made from nutrient-dense ingredients such as orange-fleshed potatoes. They also called on the government to increase investment in the Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) to significantly reduce malnutrition rates and maternal mortality.
As UNICEF continues to support the fight against malnutrition through education, resource provision, and advocacy for greater government involvement in child nutrition initiatives, there is the need for Bauchi State Government to key in to the programme in order to reduce the menace of SAM among children under five years.
The reason for the government to key in to the programme is necessitated by the enormity of malnutrition in the state which can be seen in the current available statistics as well as other surveys and studies conducted by world bodies like UNICEF, WHO, USAID. The statistics demand urgent and necessary action.
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