United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said that Lagos State accounts for about 200,000 children with stunted growth, as a result of malnutrition. This was disclosed recently by Mrs. Ada Ezeogu, Nutrition Specialist with UNICEF, while speaking at a two-day Media Advocacy Meeting, organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lagos, in collaboration with UNICEF at Patron Hotel, Lekki, Lagos. Explaining that stunting and wasting were health conditions derived on a child as a result of malnutrition, Ezeogu said that it was imperative to ensure that the numbers did not continue to increase because stunting has dire consequences on physical growth and cognitive development. According to the nutritionist, “Stunting affects not just physical growth, but cognitive development. And once the effect of stunting has set in, it is irreversible and cannot be changed. “That means, when a child is stunted, you can’t change that. That child is compromised in terms of height, physical development and cognitive development.” She said one will not get the best from a child with stunted growth and the child will not achieve the full potential in life.
She said: “There are implications for the onset of adult non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, and a tendency for a stunted or malnourished child to have it later in life.” Stating that stunting has implications that go beyond childhood, even unto adulthood, the specialist advised that it should be prevented as much as possible. Ezeogu explained that once there is malnutrition, the child easily falls ill, as the immune system is compromised. She added that because of this, health cost increases as the child is taken more often to hospital to be treated. “There is a health cost implication”, she said. She added that a malnourished child may not be as good as one who is fully nourished in school and by implication, result in repetition of class, adding that these have an economic impact in the economy and in the school system. She said: “lf you have a child repeating or not paying attention fully or their attention span is reduced as a result of malnutrition, then you have implications for the education system and the health system.” Stating that Lagos has a 6.4 per cent, translated into about 200,000 children in numbers, Ezeogu said that the percentage of wasting in Lagos was higher than the global target of less than five percent. She said: “Immediately a child is screened and found to be severely malnourished, the child should be referred to a health centre.”
She disclosed that Lagos is already doing something with the management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), adding that they are using the ready-to-use therapeutic food, as she assured that if there are underlying conditions, they will be treated. She said: “We encourage mothers to take these children immediately to health facilities for attention because for wasting, if these children are not treated on time, we may lose them.” Explaining that there is no designated centre for SAM in the state, Ezeogu disclosed that the intervention programme could be found within some hospitals. She said: “I am aware that Mercy Children Hospital has a ward where they treat children with SAM, and they were trained to handle such cases.” Urging the Lagos State Government to increase screening in order to identify these children from the communities, Ezeogu enjoined the government to increase the number of health workers who have the skills to screen children. She said with these, there will be timely intervention, and those children affected can be identified early enough and referred to a health care centre.
