By Laide Akinboade, Abuja 

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has decried the geometric increase of undernourished Nigerian girls and women aged 15-49 years.

DAILY ASSET reports that the recent data shows that the figure of undernourished female Nigerians increased from 5.

The global report released Wednesday also said 12 countries including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen, are the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis.

“This was increased by recent impacts of COVID-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries,” the report said.

The report titled “Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women” which was issued ahead of International Women’s Day, warned that the ongoing crises, aggravated by unending gender inequality, are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.

According to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell nutritional crisis has pushed millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition.

“The new global report raises the alarm on the need to invest in essential nutrition programmes for adolescent girls and women. Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come,” said Catherine.

Furthermore, the report stated that an unprecedented and comprehensive look at the state of adolescent girls and women’s nutrition globally, more than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition (including underweight and short height), deficiencies in essential micronutrients, and anaemia, with devastating consequences for their lives and wellbeing.

“In Nigeria, 55 per cent of adolescent girls and women suffer from anaemia while nearly half of the Nigerian women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of at least 5 out of 10 food groups (grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat, poultry and fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables, other vegetables and other fruits) according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.

“Inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives can lead to weakened immunity, poor cognitive development, and an increased risk of life-threatening complications – including during pregnancy and childbirth – risking mother’s lives, also, with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their children’s survival, growth, learning, and future earning capacity.

“For example, in Nigeria, 12 million children under 5 are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age due to malnutrition. Of those, about half become stunted during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the 500-day period when a child is fully dependent on maternal nutrition, according to a new analysis in the report.

“Prioritizing adolescent girls’ and women’s access to nutritious, safe and affordable diets, and protecting adolescent girls and women from ultra-processed foods through marketing restrictions, compulsory front-of-pack labelling and taxation.

“Implementing policies and mandatory legal measures to expand large-scale food fortification of routinely consumed foods such as flour, cooking oil and salt to help reduce micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia in girls and women.

“Ensuring adolescent girls and women in low- and middle-income countries have free access to essential nutrition services, both before and during pregnancy, and while breastfeeding, including ante-natal multiple micronutrient supplements.

“Expanding access to social protection programmes for the most vulnerable adolescent girls and women, including cash transfers and vouchers to improve girls’ and women’s access to nutritious and diverse diets.

“Accelerating the elimination of discriminatory gender and social norms such as child marriage and the inequitable sharing of food, household resources, income and domestic work.” the report read in part.

UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative Cristian Munduate noted that “to ensure a better future for our children, we must prioritize the access of adolescent girls and women to nutritious food and essential nutrition services”

“The nutrition crisis is deepening among them, and urgent action is needed from all partners including the government of Nigeria and the international community. We cannot afford to overlook this crisis, and we must work together to transform food, health and social protection systems for adolescent girls and women,” Munduate added