Food fortification can alter scary malnutrition statistics

There is growing concern about the high level of malnutrition in Nigeria just as recent statistics has shown that the country remains one of the first 36 in the world with the highest burden of malnutrition. According to experts, the nutritional status of many Nigerians is still far from expected, as the prevalence of all forms of malnutrition remains high. Specifically, statistics shows that about 37 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted, 29 per cent underweight and 18 per cent wasted, while micronutrient deficiencies are also high. This is even as researchers from the Federal Ministries of Health and Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as Nestle Nigeria, have lamented that nutrition-related diseases continue to be an issue of public health importance in Nigeria as it slows economic growth and perpetuates poverty through direct losses in productivity. Such losses they said come from poor physical status, poor cognitive function and deficits in schooling as well a