Child Malnutrition On The Rise In Nigeria, Despite Drop In Infant Mortality — Survey

By Ahmad Umar

Gombe (Nigeria) –The Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS5) conducted in 2016 and 2017 indicates that infant Mortality has dropped and Child Malnutrition increased in Nigeria.

This is contained in the fifth Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS5) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), UNICEF and other key partners in the Country.

The survey results showed that Nigeria made significant improvements in some areas, while others remain unchanged or have worsened since 2011, by not keeping pace with population growth, when the last survey was conducted.

According to the results, the infant mortality rate has dropped to 70 per 1000 live births from 97 in 2011. Equally, deaths among children under age five have dropped to 120 per 1000 live births from 158 in 2011.

However, malnutrition among children under age five has worsened nationwide with the highest concerns in northern states. Child wasting (children who are too thin for their age) increased from 24.2% to 31.5%, while child stunting (children who are too short for their age) increased from 34.8% to 43.6%.

MICS5 is a recognised and definitive source of information for assessing the situation of children and women in the areas of Health; Nutrition; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH); Education; Protection; and HIV & AIDS amongst others in Nigeria, as well as in other countries where it is carried out.

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The findings of the survey are used for planning, monitoring and decision making on programmes and policies to address issues related to the well-being of children and women in Nigeria.

“The use of this new MICS5 data will improve the lives of Nigerians by informing about important gaps that are impacting children and women so that appropriate actions can be taken”, said Pernille Ironside, Acting Representative for UNICEF in Nigeria. “It is not about data for the sake of data”, she added.

Ironside said since 1995, UNICEF has supported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with technical assistance and funding to conduct five rounds of MICS, informing progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other major national and global commitments.

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The data for MICS5 was collected between September 2016 and January 2017 from 33,901 households in 2,239 enumeration areas across the 36 States and Federal Capital Territory.

A total of 34,376 eligible women; 28,085 of mothers/caregivers of children under 5 years; and 15,183 men were interviewed using structured questionnaires aided by Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) devices.

This is the largest MICS survey conducted in Africa to date.