Malnutrition affects 40% of Nigerian children — VP

Vice President Kashim Shettima has raised alarm that malnutrition is depriving about 40 percent of Nigerian children under the age of five of their full physical and cognitive potential.

Speaking on Tuesday at the National Summit on Nutrition and Food Security, Shettima said the federal government has launched the Nutrition 774 Initiative, a grassroots-focused programme aimed at addressing malnutrition in the country’s most neglected communities.

The summit, organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, was part of the House’s Open Week activities.

Represented by Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Shettima said President Bola Tinubu’s administration has repositioned nutrition as a core pillar of Nigeria’s national development agenda.

He noted that the Nutrition 774 Initiative has been approved by the National Council on Nutrition, which he chairs, and commended both the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly for establishing a National Legislative Network on Nutrition and Food Security.