The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, has highlighted the dangers of both under-nutrition and over-nutrition among Nigerian children and adults. He stressed the urgent need for concerted efforts to tackle these issues.
Speaking at the inauguration of the National Legislative Network on Nutrition and Food Security, organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Pate emphasized the severe impact of malnutrition. “Food security and nutrition are key pillars of Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigeria. For many years, we have struggled with stunting, maternal malnutrition, acute malnutrition, and household food insecurity,” he stated.
Pate explained that while under-nutrition receives significant attention due to its acute nature, Nigeria faces a “triple burden of malnutrition.” This includes under-nutrition, acute hunger, and over-nutrition. He warned that over-nutrition is contributing to the rapid increase in non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery diseases. “For the adults, hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery diseases are growing partly because of the food we eat; the processed food that we eat,” he noted.
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The minister also pointed out that under-nutrition can lead to over-nutrition later in life, exacerbating health problems. “When you grow up and the cells are few, you grow horizontally. Non-communicable diseases are attributed to malnutrition of a different kind,” he explained.
In addition to addressing caloric deficiencies, Pate highlighted the importance of a diverse diet to combat malnutrition. “It is not just the caloric deficiency but the diversity of the diet that we have. If you go to my village, we mostly eat carbohydrates, few leaves and all of those. But the diversity in terms of lipid and protein are also important to address these gaps,” he said. He also stressed the need for adequate micro-nutrients, water and sanitation, breast-feeding, and proper infant and young child feeding practices.
Pate called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to support the federal government in addressing these nutrition and health challenges.