The number of adolescent girls and women aged 15‑49 years who are undernourished in Nigeria has risen sharply, from 5.6 million in 2018 to 7.3 million in 2021. A global report released by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday places Nigeria among the 12 hardest‑hit countries in the worldwide food and nutrition crisis. The list—Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen—represents the epicentre of a nutrition emergency intensified by the COVID‑19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and ongoing drought, conflict and instability in many of these nations.
The UNICEF report, titled **“Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women,”** was issued ahead of International Women’s Day. It warns that persistent gender inequality is deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that has shown little improvement over the past two decades. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said, “This nutrition crisis is pushing millions of mothers and their children into hunger and severe malnutrition. Without urgent action from the international community, the consequences could last for generations to come.”
According to the report—an unprecedented, comprehensive assessment of adolescent girls’ and women’s nutrition worldwide—more than one billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition (including underweight and short stature), micronutrient deficiencies, and anaemia, with devastating effects on their health and wellbeing. In Nigeria, 55 percent of adolescent girls and women are anaemic, and nearly half of women of reproductive age do not consume the recommended diet of at least five of ten food groups (grains and tubers, pulses, nuts and seeds, dairy, meat/poultry/fish, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, vitamin‑A‑rich fruits and vegetables, other vegetables, and other fruits), according to the 2022 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey.
Inadequate nutrition during girls’ and women’s lives weakens immunity, hampers cognitive development, and raises the risk of life‑threatening complications during pregnancy and childbirth, endangering both mothers and their children. In Nigeria, 12 million children under five are stunted—too short for their age due to malnutrition. About half of these cases arise during pregnancy and the first six months of life, the critical 500‑day period when a child depends entirely on maternal nutrition. Russell added, “To prevent undernutrition in children, we must also address malnutrition in adolescent girls and women.”
The report identifies South Asia and sub‑Saharan Africa as the epicentres of the crisis, housing two‑thirds of all underweight adolescent girls and women globally and three‑fifths of those with anaemia. Adolescents and women from the poorest households are twice as likely to be underweight as those from the wealthiest. Global crises continue to disproportionately limit women’s access to nutritious food; in 2021, 126 million more women than men were food‑insecure, more than double the gender gap recorded in 2019.
In Nigeria, the 2022 Cadre Harmonise analysis published by the government shows that 17 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity, a figure expected to rise to 25 million during the upcoming lean season. Since 2022, UNICEF has expanded its efforts in the hardest‑hit countries, including Nigeria. The report calls on governments, development and humanitarian partners, donors, civil‑society organisations and other development actors to transform food, health and social‑protection systems for adolescent girls and women.
UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative Cristian Munduate emphasized the urgency: “To ensure a better future for our children, we must prioritise the access of adolescent girls and women to nutritious food and essential nutrition services. The nutrition crisis is deepening among them, and urgent action is needed from all partners, including the government of Nigeria and the international community. We cannot afford to overlook this crisis, and we must work together to transform food, health and social‑protection systems for adolescent girls and women.”
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