UNICEF has identified five states in northern Nigeria with serious cases of malnutrition among children.
Speaking at a gathering, the Chief Nutritionist of UNICEF, Arjane De Wagt, revealed that 22% of Nigeria’s 1.6 million malnourished children were in five states in the northern region of the country.
The states, according to the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) include Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Yobe and Zamfara.
He noted that an estimated 70,000 children from the affected states would die by the end of 2016 if nothing is done to save the situation.
A nutritionist at the Institute for Global Health, Andrew Tomkins, attributed the cause of malnutrition in the North to expectant mothers’ refusals to patronise health care facilities in the region.
Tomkins also recommended exclusive breast feeding as one of the major solutions to the problem.
In his remark, the Jigawa State Commissioner of Health, Abba Umar, said that the government was currently working to address the situation.
Although, the five affected states budgeted for nutrition in 2014 and 2015, the reports from UNICEF disclosed that not a single state funded the budget.