A coalition of civil society organisations with concern for nutrition has raised the alarm over high rate of malnutrition among children in Kwara state.
Presenting the state policy brief on nutrition at a sensitisation programme in Ilorin, the coalition said Kwara state is home to a large population of malnourished children and pregnant women.
Statistics from the National Nutrition Health Survey indicates that Kwara state has under 5 mortality rate of 45 deaths per 1000 live births and an infant mortality rate of 40 per 1,000 live births.
It also shows that 32.5 per cent of children under five are stunted, 7.0 per cent are wasted, 19.9 per cent are underweight and only 35.7 per cent of children less than six months are exclusively breastfed in the state.
Government officials also see the need to scale up budgetary provision for the improvement of children’s nutrition in the state.
