May 5, 2022

Poverty, taboos, child diseases and absence of immunisation have been identified as factors responsible for retardation of growth in children in some parts of Nigeria.

A study conducted by Global Exemplars in Stunting Reduction and Countdown to 2030 – Nigeria Country Case Study, came up with the observation.

It called for renewed political will by governments to reverse the trend.

The study was led by Prof. Adebola Orimadegun of the Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and Prof. Ayodele Jegede of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ibadan, the duo highlighted the findings of the study.

They indicated that the study identified key drivers of stunting in Nigeria, using UNICEF’s contextual framework to guide it.

Orimadegun told NAN, however, that Nigeria made modest progress in stunting reduction between 1990 and 2018, when compared with some African countries.

“Overall, our study showed that Nigeria made modest progress in stunting reduction between 1990 and 2018, when compared with Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Peru, and Uganda.

“We also found remarkable variation in the average annual rate of change in stunting reduction across the 36 states of Nigeria.

“The picture appears to show an essentially slower rate of reduction in most parts of the north than in the south of Nigeria.

“The states that achieved more than a 0.8 per cent average annual rate of stunting reduction are Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, and Plateau in the north.

“In the south Akwa Ibom, Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun, and Rivers also recorded reduction in stunting,’’ he said.

Orimadegun noted that increased wealth, education and improved sanitation were the drivers of stunting reduction in Nigeria and called for sustained government intervention to achieve significant reduction by 2030.

“From our findings, it will be reasonable to advise the Nigerian government and stakeholders in Nigeria’s nutrition-specific and related programmes to intensify efforts at poverty reduction.

“This will enhance the ability to purchase nutritious foods at the household level.

“Promotion of maternal education at every opportunity, beginning with further investment in girl-child education, will go a long way to accelerate stunting reduction.

“Access to and utilisation of health services such as antenatal care, malaria prevention, water and sanitation are primary promoters of stunting reduction, and indicate areas for governments’ immediate interventions,’’ he said.

In his contribution, Jegede noted that distant factors contributing to stunting are politics, poverty, conflict, and migration adding that urbanisation, women empowerment and education could reverse the trend.

He called for improved political will to end food insecurity and the adoption of nutrition education to address issues of food taboos.

The professor said that government should sustain and improve investment in data generation to monitor progress and to facilitate improvement in the non-health sector.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

The Country Partner is the University of Ibadan-led coalition, which included the Federal Ministry of Health and several universities based in different geopolitical zones of the country. (NAN)