Lagos State accounts for about 2,000 children with stunted growth due to malnutrition, Mrs Ada Ezeogu, United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Nutrition Specialist, said on Saturday.
Consequently, Ezeogu said that it was imperative to ensure that the numbers didn’t continue to increase because stunting affected the physical growth and also cognitive development.
Stunting and Wasting are health conditions derived on a child as a result of malnutrition.
Ezeogu spoke at a Media Advocacy Meeting by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in collaboration with UNICEF.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day programme, attended by 50 media practitioners, was held in Patron Hotel, Lekki, Sangotedo, with thrust on COVAX and RI (Routine Immunisation) Uptake in Lagos State.
She said: “Once the effect of stunting has set in, it is irreversible and cannot be changed and this compromises the child both in height, physical development and cognitive development.
“So, you will not get the best from that child and that child will not achieve their full potential in life.
“Also, there are implications for onset of adult non-communicable diseases like diabetes, and a tendency for a stunted or malnourished child to have it later in life,” she said.
