• About us
  • Contact us
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
New Citizen
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Home
  • Nation
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Health
  • Education
  • Sport
  • Arts & Life
  • Culture & Entertainment
  • World
  • Perspectives
  • About us
  • Home
  • Nation
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Health
  • Education
  • Sport
  • Arts & Life
  • Culture & Entertainment
  • World
  • Perspectives
  • About us
No Result
View All Result
New Citizen
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Good nutrition beneficial, achievable for all Nigerians – UNICEF

FOLASADE AKPAN by FOLASADE AKPAN
11 months ago
in Health
0
Nigerian children

Nigerian children

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says good nutrition is beneficial to and achievable for all Nigerians.

Nkeiruka Enwelum, Nutrition Officer, UNICEF, made the assertion on Thursday in Enugu at a two-day media dialogue on “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Child Rights,” while presenting a paper on “Child Malnutrition Situation in Nigeria: An Overview”.

READ ALSO

Four things you can do to support your teen’s mental health

Africa recorded 26% reduction in death from Tuberculosis, says WHO

According to Enwelum, some benefits of good nutrition include increase in school participation by one year, raise in adult wages by five to 50 per cent among others.

She said that the consequences of malnutrition include impaired brain development and lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ), low birth weight, weakened immune system leading to increase in infectious diseases and premature death.

She said that about 45 per cent of child deaths were linked to poor nutrition which mostly occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Enwelum said that forms of malnutrition in children included wasting, stunting and underweight, while underweight and overweight were visible forms in adults.

She said that malnutrition should be avoided at all costs through provision and eating of all classes of foods.

She added that failure to prevent and treat malnutrition could result in long term cognitive and growth impacts and loss of income for households and up to 15 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) loss for Nigeria.

In his presentation on “The SDGs as Child Rights”, Dr Chidi Ezinwa of the Department of Mass Communication, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, said that Nigeria was ranked 160th on the 2020 world’s SDG index from 159th in 2019.

According to him, SDGs cannot be realised without fulfilling the rights of children.

“SDGs are therefore rights to be fulfilled.

“The SDGs index above shows that many rights of children are yet to be fulfilled in Nigeria. Hence, Nigeria is far from realising the SDGs, ” he said.

He said that embedded in the SDGs included several rights of children to be fulfilled without which progress would not be made in achieving them.

He added that children were not just objects who belonged to their parents and for whom decisions were made or adults in training.

He said rather, they were human beings and individuals with their own rights.

Also, Dr Uche Anune, Training Coordinator, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the media had a great role to play in ensuring the achievement of the goals, especially as they relate to children.

He charged media practitioners to write on relevant topics in a refreshing manner as possible.

“Fortunately, the Child’s Rights Act provides us with a wide range of topics and virtually immortal; girl child education, sanitation, health, access to clean water, and environment, among others.

“These are issues that confront us daily and news stories from these sectors will remain alive as long as these challenges persist.

“It is incumbent on us, journalists, to use our professional skills and tools to advance the rights of the child by stimulating relevant stakeholders to take action to safeguard those rights,” he said.

NAN reports that the Child’s Rights Act in Nigeria was adopted in 2003, giving legal consent to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The law guarantees the rights of all children in Nigeria.

The Child’s Right Act (2003) defines children as persons under the age of 18.

The 17 SDGs focus on poverty, industrial innovation and infrastructure, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality and clean water.

Others include sanitation, responsible production and consumption, peace and justice, strong institutions, climate action, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, and reduced inequality, among others. (NAN)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp

Copyright © 2022 | New Citizen Nigeria

Related Posts

Photo: UNICEF/UN036960/Torgovnik/Verbatim Photo Agency
Health

Four things you can do to support your teen’s mental health

March 25, 2023
Health

Africa recorded 26% reduction in death from Tuberculosis, says WHO

March 24, 2023
Muhammadu Buhari
Health

Buhari approves redesignation of State House Clinic to Medical Centre

March 23, 2023 - Updated on March 24, 2023
Health

WHO updates tracking system for variants of SARS-CoV-2

March 16, 2023 - Updated on March 17, 2023
A child being vaccinated
Health

Stakeholders identify paucity of funds as hindrance to effective NHIS enrolment

March 7, 2023
Professor Olalekan Akinbo
Health

Scientist underscores usefulness of genome editing technology to Africa

March 1, 2023
Next Post
The four books (Photo: Ibrahim Sheme)

Books: My latest prized acquisition

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

POPULAR NEWS

No Content Available

EDITOR'S PICK

Sumaila Umaisha

Develop your own writing style!

May 11, 2022
FILE - Coordinator Mithika Mwenda, left, and committee member Augustine Njamnshi, right, at a press conference of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance at the Climate Summit, in Copenhagen Denmark, on Dec. 10, 2009. (Photo: Photo: AP/Peter Dejong)

African activists cast doubt over climate talks’ credibility

January 17, 2023
Couple of the quadruplets with the commissioner's wife

Zamfara governor’s wife donates items, cash to mother of newborn quadruplets

July 3, 2022 - Updated on July 4, 2022
Dr. Harun Ibn-Sina

Hisbah Board denies arresting youths for allegedly engaging in same sex marriages

February 17, 2022

About

NEW CITIZEN is a Nigerian online newspaper that reports or comments on the burning issues of the moment. Based in Abuja, it is managed by some of the best hands in Nigerian journalism, bringing together decades of active journalism.

Follow us

Recent Posts

  • NDA holds range management course shooting excercise
  • Lecturer prays court to stop media from attributing bandit attacks to Fulani extraction
  • Those calling for interim national government are enemies of Nigeria- BAT Ambassadors
  • INEC to conduct 2 governorship, 89 constituencies supplementary elections on April 15

Trending

  • Bashir Tofa and friends in London
    Bashir Tofa and friends in London
  • Kogi APC screens suspended guber aspirant after Yahaya Bello’s intervention
    Kogi APC screens suspended guber aspirant after Yahaya Bello’s intervention
  • Yar'fari: A review of A'aisha Abdulkareem's debut novel
    Yar'fari: A review of A'aisha Abdulkareem's debut novel
  • Court rejects sect’s request to block release of documentary on Netflix
    Court rejects sect’s request to block release of documentary on Netflix
  • Ex-Kannywood actress Fati Ladan advises women on marriage
    Ex-Kannywood actress Fati Ladan advises women on marriage

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 | New Citizen Nigeria.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Nation
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Health
  • Education
  • Sport
  • Arts & Life
  • Culture & Entertainment
  • World
  • Perspectives
  • About us

Copyright © 2022 | New Citizen Nigeria.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In