Nigeria: 5M newborns denied exclusive breastfeeding

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) -The United Nations said Wednesday that over 5 million newborns in Nigeria are deprived of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of their lives, thereby missing out on necessary nutrients to give them a head start on life.

In a statement commemorating World Breastfeeding Week, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said Nigeria is lagging behind in the campaign for exclusive breastfeeding, as only 25 percent of its newborns get properly breastfed.

Approximately 7 million children are born in Nigeria every year and, according to the 2014 National Nutrition and Health Survey, only 25 percent are exclusively breastfed from 0-6 months of age, the statement said.

“Babies who are fed nothing but breastmilk from the moment they are born until they are six months old grow and develop better. Breast milk gives a child a head start in life and a chance to fight child malnutrition later in life,” the statement quoted Arjan de Wagt, UNICEF Nigeria chief of nutrition, as saying.

It said while Nigeria is making progress in exclusive breastfeeding, the effort has been very slow.

“Over 10 years, Nigeria has increased its exclusive breastfeeding rate from 12 percent to only 25 percent. By comparison, in 1994, both Ghana and Nigeria had both exclusive breastfeeding rates of 7.4, but by 2013 Ghana had moved up to 63 percent,” according to the statement.

“Nigeria’s lack of progress in exclusive breastfeeding denies millions of newborns in Nigeria the benefits of breast milk. and that breastfeeding drastically reduces deaths from acute respiratory infection and diarrhea; two major child killer diseases.”