Malnutrition kills 132 children in Kaduna state, 10,604 others cured – Official

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.