7% of Nigerian women of child-bearing age suffer from acute malnutrition — CS-SUNN

The Civil Society-Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CSSUNN) says 7% of Nigerian women of child-bearing age suffer from acute malnutrition.

Executive Secretary of CSSUNN, Sunday Okoronkwo, stated this in Abuja during a roundtable on ‘Promoting Women and Girls’ Nutrition in

Nigeria ‘.

Quoting a UNICEF report, he said studies have also shown that 10-20 per cent of Nigerian women are undernourished.

Represented by the Steering Committee chairman of CSSUNN, Aji Robinson, he said the Global Nutrition Report 2022 Nigeria country profile also revealed that only 56% of women aged 15-49 have minimally adequate dietary diversity.

Okoronkwo said while the government has made significant strides in advancing maternal and child nutrition, little attention has been paid to the nutritional needs of nonpregnant/non-lactating women and adolescent girls.

He said to promote women and girls’ access to optimal nutrition, the Women and girls nutrition project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and executed by FHI solutions, CS-SUNN and other partners, aims to collaborate with stakeholders to spearhead an action agenda that will prioritise policy and finance commitments for enhancing the nutrition of women and girls at local, regional and global levels.

He called on the federal government to support the development and implementation of a national guideline on women’s and girls’ empowerment for optimal nutrition through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

He also called for an increase in the number of women decision-making positions, and gender equity in the access and utilisation of public economic empowerment schemes.