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Following the rise in inflation and the exorbitant prices of goods and services, nutrition experts have warned that such can lead to poor dieting which will further lead to malnutrition among Nigerians, with children under five mostly at risk.
They said that prior to the economic crisis in Nigeria, about 50 per cent of women of reproductive age struggled to afford a healthy diet.
NBS and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition indicated that the average cost of a healthy diet for a Nigerian adult rose from ₦858 in January to ₦1,241 by June.
The report revealed a 45 per cent increase in the CoHD over the first six months of 2024.
During the same period, general inflation and food inflation climbed to 33 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively.
Additionally, the NBS noted that the June figure was 19 per cent higher than the ₦1,041 per adult per day reported in May 2024.
According to the World Bank, the CoHD reflects the cost of purchasing the least expensive locally available foods required to meet energy and food-based dietary guidelines, adjusted for current purchasing power parities.
The nutrition experts expressed deep concerns about the 45 per cent rise in the cost of a healthy diet, highlighting its severe implications for adults and children under five.
Dr James Oloyede, the Director of Nutrition Services and Health Education at the Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, James Oloyede, said the unaffordability of healthy diet could result in acute malnutrition.
According to the World Health Organisation, severe acute malnutrition is defined by a very low weight-for-height, weight-for-length, or clinical signs of bilateral pitting oedema, or a very low mid-upper arm circumference.
Oloyede said, “Even before the current economic crisis, over 50 per cent of women of reproductive age could not afford a healthy diet in the country. A study on the food nutrient gap in Nigeria found that no more than 50 per cent of women can afford a nutritious diet.
“When individuals do not consume an adequate, high-quality diet, it leads to undernutrition. For children, this results in acute wasting, where the child’s weight is significantly lower than expected for their height.
“Acute wasting is akin to a death sentence, as it represents severe acute malnutrition. Without timely intervention, such children are at high risk of mortality, leading to an increase in under-five mortality rates."
He noted that the inaccessibility to a healthy diet due to rising costs could lead to micronutrient deficiencies, often called hidden hunger, insisting that micronutrients are essential for speeding up metabolism and aiding the body’s healing processes.
Similarly, a nutritionist and professor at the Department of Nursing Science, University of Calabar, Cross River State, Mary Mgbekem, emphasised that both adults and children who could not afford a healthy diet would suffer malnutrition.
Mgbekem highlighted that malnutrition does not always appear in the extreme form with visible protruding bones, emphasising that it can manifest in different ways.
She explained, “When certain nutrients are missing from the diet, deficiencies develop in the body. In nutritional assessment, there are four major methods to evaluate malnutrition. The first is anthropometric measurement, which involves checking measurements such as height and weight.
“When a person consistently eats only one type of food, you cannot expect them to be healthy."
