The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated calls for ending malnutrition of infants, especially in the northern region of the country.
The Field Office of UNICEF in Bauchi State reiterated the calls during a two-day media dialogue on age-appropriate complementary feeding for children aged 6-23 months organized for journalists drawn from Gombe, Bauchi, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa States held in Gombe State.
Speaking with journalists after the closing of the event and a field trip to Kaltungo local government where they taught women on production of complementary children’s foods, the UNICEF Nutrition Specialist Bauchi field office, Philomena Irene, said infant and young child feeding was important for enhancing survival and fostering healthy growth and development.
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According to her, the first two years of a child’s life was crucial in their lives adding that providing proper nutrition during the period could reduce the rates of mortality of children.
She noted that within the period of two years, infants should be fed with both breast milk and complementary foods in order to help them to thrive and grow healthier.
UNICEF had earlier revealed that there are approximately 25 million child brides in Nigeria at the moment.
This is just as the Federal Government commenced engagements with UNICEF, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other stakeholders to end the practice of early child marriage in the country.
Speaking at a national dialogue on ending child marriage in Nigeria held in Abuja, the UNICEF Country Representative, Ms Cristian Munduate, noted that the child marriage phenomenon is prevalent in Bauchi, Jigawa and Zamfara.
Munduate said that child marriage is a harmful practice under international human rights law which is often associated with severe forms of violence against women and girls, including intimate partner violence.