Twenty-four percent of children in Benue State have stunted growth despite its status as the Food Basket of the Nation.
This was disclosed by a UNICEF nutrition specialist, Mrs Ngozi Onuora in Makurdi on Thursday.
She spoke at the first coordination and partnership meeting between UNICEF, development partners and stakeholders in investments in nutrition.
Mrs Onuora said the 24 percent meant that 292,492 children under five years were stunted and explained that it meant that one child out of every four children in the state was stunted.
The nutrition specialist also noted that underweight prevalence rate in children in the state was 13.6 per cent, stressing that acute malnutrition rate of children under five years in the state was 3.8 per cent.
“Unfortunately, malnutrition has become a silent emergency and this silent emergency receives far too little attention.
“UNICEF is committed to working with all partners in government and other UN agencies, the media, the civil society and the private sector to help to propel this global movement forward,’’ Onuora said.
She said that investments in scaling up nutrition would yield immediate returns, stressing that it would save lives, and enable children and their mothers to have better futures.
In her remarks, Executive Secretary, Benue State Primary Health Care Board, Mrs Grace Wende, said the board was already advocating for good food and adequate nutrition for children and pregnant women.