The Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has warned that parents are failing their children by allowing malnutrition and stunting to persist, stressing that the condition has lifelong consequences and cannot be reversed once it occurs.
The National Programme Officer of CS-SUNN, Mr. Elder Kenneth Amogu, gave the warning on Thursday during an advocacy visit to Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State under the Partnership for Improving Nutrition in Nigeria Systems (PINNS 3.0) project.
Ikani said the high prevalence of stunting in the area was alarming, noting that about 60 per cent of children were affected.
“Stunting is irreversible. We are not doing well for our children if we allow them to become stunted because when they grow up, they will suffer the consequences throughout their lives,” he said.
He urged the local government and other stakeholders to strengthen nutrition interventions to prevent malnutrition among under-five children.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the CS-SUNN Bauchi Chapter, Mrs. Dabis Mwalike, said the advocacy visit was aimed at securing commitments from the council on four key areas: strengthening nutrition coordination, creating a dedicated budget line for nutrition, timely release of funds and effective utilisation of allocated resources.
She commended the local government nutrition committee for holding its first quarterly coordination meeting and said CS-SUNN would continue to monitor the release and utilisation of nutrition funds under the PINNS 3.0 project.
Also speaking, the Borno State Coordinator of CS-SUNN, Mr. Yusuf Ibn Tom, emphasised the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and home gardening to improve household access to nutritious foods.
He encouraged mothers to grow vegetables and other nutritious crops at home rather than relying on unhealthy processed foods from the market.
The Nutrition Focal Person for Ganjuwa Local Government, Aminu Jibrin, acknowledged the Bauchi State Government’s support through the provision of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), describing Ganjuwa as one of the councils with a high burden of malnutrition.
He said the intervention had contributed to a significant reduction in malnutrition cases and appealed for the expansion of the programme to more communities to increase awareness and improve nutrition outcomes.
Responding, the Chairman of Ganjuwa Local Government, Hon. Muhammad Idris Magayaki, represented by the Director of Primary Health Care, Mr. Iliya D. Isiyaku, assured CS-SUNN of the council’s commitment to supporting nutrition programmes.
He pledged to convey the outcome of the advocacy to the council chairman and expressed confidence that the nutrition committee would work towards securing budgetary support for nutrition activities, including through a supplementary budget where necessary.
