The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says more than half of children in Kano are stunted due to malnutrition, with 51.9 per cent showing signs of poor growth.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Kano, Rahma Farah, disclosed this at the official handover of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food in Takai Local Government Area.
The food was provided through a joint government and UNICEF Child Nutrition Match Fund initiative.
Mr Farah explained that the figure means “one in every two children in the state is not growing well due to chronic malnutrition.” He added that over 10 per cent of children in Kano are wasted — “a condition in which a child is too thin for their height, often as a result of recent and severe weight loss.”
He warned that wasting “significantly increases the risk of death if not treated promptly,” describing child malnutrition as “a major public health concern that requires urgent attention from all stakeholders.”
Mr Farah urged more investment in nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programmes, especially during “the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.”
He called on government, civil society groups, and religious and traditional leaders to “scale up actions to combat malnutrition” by improving access to nutrition services, education, clean water, and healthcare.
“Investment in child nutrition is one of the most cost-effective interventions for national development,” he said.
Kano State Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran, said the government was working to improve child nutrition and had recently introduced programmes focused on maternal and child health.
He added that the state would “continue to partner with UNICEF and other development partners to reduce malnutrition rates and improve child survival and development indicators.”
NAN
