The Nutrition Manager of the United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, Field Office in Kano, Elhadji Diop, says only two out of 10 newborns are exclusively breastfed in Katsina State, North-West Nigeria.
Diop was speaking during a media dialogue session on exclusive breastfeeding, with emphasis on zero-water for children between the ages of 0 to 6 months, as part of activities to mark this year’s World Breastfeeding Week.
This is even as the State is having about 2.07 million children malnourished with 1.24 million children who are stunted, 82,492 wasted as well as 1.2 million suffering from anaemia.
The theme for this year’s celebration is, “Step up for Breastfeeding, Educate And Support”.
While quoting the year 2022 Multi Indicator Cluster Survey, MICS, Diop added that the State made a slow growth rate in exclusive breastfeeding among children aged 0 to 6, from 6.7 per cent in 2016, to 21.3 per cent in 2022, in comparison to the national average of 34 per cent.
The Unicef Nutrition Manager also added that the Katsina State Government has a lot to do to meet up with the set target of 50% in 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals.
Also read: Special Report: 85% of Nigerian children experience violent punishment – Unicef
Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Shamsudeen Yahaya, represented by Tukur Bala, said the government is doing a lot in terms of sensitising the populace on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
He, therefore, called on practising journalists in the State to be more cooperative and collaborative with the State Government, to achieve the set target of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, before the year 2030.
The facilitator of the meeting, Dr. Steve Daniels, gave the importance of exclusive breastfeeding to include in the first 1,000 days of life, a unique period of opportunity for establishing optimum health, growth and neurodevelopment.
He also added that the global cost of not breastfeeding includes that each year, close to 600,000 children, and almost 100,000 mothers die, and economic losses are estimated to be between N257 and N341 billion.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
