The Ministry of Health said it was considering the enforcement of the policy on exclusive breastfeeding to curb the increasing cases of diarrhea and pneumonia in infants. The Head of Nutrition, Family Health Department at the Ministry, Dr. Chris Isokpunwu stated this on Monday when he met with representatives from the states to discuss ways to address nutrition related issues especially among infants in the country.
Dr. Isokpunwu lamented that a recent survey conducted in the country revealed that over 46% of mothers were breaching the policy on exclusive breastfeeding by giving water to babies under the age of six months. He noted that the move was wrong since breast milk contained water. He added that development was making such babies susceptible to disease.
"Babies below the age of six months should be exclusively on breast milk. About 46 per cent of mothers give water to their babies along with breast milk. This is wrong and it must be stopped. It increases the risks of babies having diarrhoea and pneumonia."
The Minister of Health, Dr. Isaac Adewole who was represented at the meeting by Dr. Adebimpe Adebiyi decried the rate of malnutrition in the country and appreciated the World Bank for contributed enormously towards addressing the challenge.
"Nearly 1,500 children die daily in Nigeria as a result of malnutrition. With a stunting rate of 31.5 per cent in 2015, which translates to about 11 million children, Nigeria has the highest number of stunted children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second highest in the world."
"Similarly, about 7.2 per cent are wasted, that is acutely malnourished and 18.6 per cent are underweight. It is also a well-established fact that, as an underlying cause of death, malnutrition accounts for more than 50 per cent of deaths of children under the age of five in Nigeria"
"Every day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 children under-five year of age and malnutrition accounts for more than half of these deaths. It is therefore obvious that we cannot seriously think about reducing deaths of children under the age of five without addressing malnutrition."
"A total of 4912m is needed to combat malnutrition in the country. And the World Bank has offered to provide $350m to assist the country in achieving this"
