The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has raised alarm that more than one in three Nigerian children under the age of five is malnourished, describing the crisis as a major public health emergency threatening the nation’s future.
NARD, in a post on its official X handle on Thursday, said over 35 per cent of children face different forms of malnutrition, which has become one of the leading causes of child mortality in the country.
“Malnutrition contributes significantly to child mortality. It also impacts cognitive development, disease susceptibility, and national productivity,” the doctors’ body stated.
The association explained that interventions such as the distribution of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM), and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling are currently being deployed, adding that research has shown that such strategies improve child survival and recovery rates.
“Our members are at the forefront of implementing and researching malnutrition interventions across Nigeria,” NARD stressed, while calling for stronger support for sustainable nutrition programmes.
The warning comes amid growing concern by stakeholders over Nigeria’s worsening nutrition crisis. In August, the Federal Government admitted that the country loses over $1.5 billion annually to malnutrition, which the Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Uju Rochas-Anwuka, described as a “drain on human capital and national development.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima, at a National Summit on Nutrition and Food Security in Abuja in July, also warned that nearly 40 per cent of children under five are deprived of proper nutrition, insisting that food insecurity is not only about hunger but also about affordability and access to meals that meet nutritional needs.
The crisis has been further highlighted by international humanitarian groups. In July, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported that over 600 malnourished children died in northern Nigeria within six months, while cases of severe malnutrition surged by more than 200 per cent between January and June compared to the previous year.
According to the group, rising living costs, dwindling foreign aid, and insecurity-driven displacements have worsened the situation, especially in northern states.
Health experts have consistently warned that unless urgent and coordinated action is taken, Nigeria risks losing a generation of children to preventable malnutrition-related complications, with dire consequences for the country’s human capital and economic growth.
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