Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an international non-governmental organization says over 50 per cent children in the northern part of the country are suffering from malnutrition. The Country Director of GAIN, Dr. Michael Ojo stated this during a chat with newsmen. He disclosed that his organization was assisting the Federal Government to design and deliver food-based policies and programmes to improve the consumption of safe and nutritious foods in the affected areas.
Speaking further, Ojo lamented that the current situation has resulted in severe malnutrition and stunted growth in children less than five years.
"An overview of Nigeria’s nutritional status shows that 33 per cent of children under five are stunted and eight per cent are wasted while 29 per cent of children are underweight. In the North, about 50 per cent and 30 per cent in the South are stunted; so, there is a need for specific intervention to address this problem.”
He also expressed worry that many Nigerians were eating unfortified foods, stressing that GAIN was working to change this through the creation of an environment that would allow business to thrive.
