{"id":13864,"date":"2026-11-10T06:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T06:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/high-cost-of-neglect-why-lagos-must-invest-in-child-nutrition-now\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T06:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T06:31:00","slug":"high-cost-of-neglect-why-lagos-must-invest-in-child-nutrition-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/high-cost-of-neglect-why-lagos-must-invest-in-child-nutrition-now\/","title":{"rendered":"High cost of neglect: Why Lagos must invest in child nutrition now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"High<\/p>\n

By Chioma Obinna<\/p>\n

For a mother struggling to earn a living in one of Lagos\u2019 underserved communities, feeding her child is a daily battle. She may sell beans and bread by the roadside, work long hours, and still struggle to provide meals that meet her child\u2019s nutritional needs.<\/p>\n

She may not realise that the first two years of her child\u2019s life could shape much of the child\u2019s future. Poor nutrition during this critical period can impair physical growth and brain development, with consequences that may follow the child into adulthood.<\/p>\n

This is the human face of malnutrition in Lagos, a state celebrated for its economic strength but still battling childhood undernutrition.<\/p>\n

The challenge came under focus at a media engagement on domestic nutrition financing organised by the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), where stakeholders called for increased government investment, stronger budget accountability and urgent action to prevent avoidable child deaths.<\/p>\n

CS-SUNN warned that more than 200,000 children\u2019s lives were at stake, particularly those vulnerable to severe acute malnutrition, stressing that strategic investments in nutrition could save lives.<\/p>\n

From the 2023\u201324 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey Key Indicators Report, Lagos recorded 17.3 percent stunting, six percent wasting, and 14.3 percent underweight prevalence among children under five.<\/p>\n

The figures highlight a troubling gap between Lagos\u2019 economic status and the nutritional well-being of its youngest residents.
Stunting, caused by prolonged undernutrition, can impair physical and cognitive development, while wasting, associated with acute malnutrition, increases children\u2019s vulnerability to illness and death.<\/p>\n

CS-SUNN Senior Programme Officer, Mr. Ambrose Evhoesor, said infrastructure development must go hand in hand with investment in human capital, particularly children\u2019s health and development.<\/p>\n

The first 1,000 days, from conception to a child\u2019s second birthday, are critical for brain development, physical growth and long-term health.<\/p>\n

State Nutrition Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Taiwo Fadairo, stressed that preventing malnutrition must begin during pregnancy and continue through breastfeeding and appropriate infant and young child feeding.<\/p>\n

She identified maternal nutrition, micronutrient supplementation, breastfeeding support and adolescent nutrition as essential interventions requiring sustained funding.<\/p>\n

Lagos has established Local Government Committees on Food and Nutrition to improve coordination at the grassroots, but more resources and partnerships were needed.<\/p>\n

The financial cost of treating severe acute malnutrition further exposes the consequences of inadequate preventive investment.
Figures presented by Evhoesor showed treating one child with severe acute malnutrition costs approximately N250,000. The estimated treatment cost for affected children in Lagos is about N47 billion, compared with an allocation of about N596 million.
The disparity raises concerns about the state\u2019s capacity to respond adequately to severe cases and reinforces the need to prioritise prevention.<\/p>\n

CS-SUNN\u2019s investment case estimates that every N1 invested in nutrition in Lagos could generate returns of approximately N2.79, making nutrition financing an investment in human capital rather than merely another public expenditure. Beyond inadequate funding, poor budget performance remains a major concern.<\/p>\n

Figures presented at the engagement showed that Lagos allocated approximately N321 million to nutrition in 2023, but recorded 13 percent budget performance. Performance improved to 81.5 percent in 2024 before reportedly falling to about 10 percent in 2025, when allocation was approximately N309 million.<\/p>\n

The figures raise questions about release and utilisation of approved funds. Evhoesor urged journalists to investigate release of budgeted funds on intended nutrition programmes, noting that allocations alone do not guarantee improved services.
He also highlighted the Child Nutrition Fund as an opportunity for Lagos to attract additional resources through matching contributions from development partners.<\/p>\n

A call for accountability<\/strong><\/p>\n

CS-SUNN Senior Communication Officer, Mrs Lilian Okafor, urged journalists to move beyond reporting malnutrition statistics and investigate how government policies and budgets affect vulnerable families.<\/p>\n

She called for sustained media scrutiny of nutrition allocations, releases, and implementation, particularly during budget preparations and political campaigns.<\/p>\n

Experiences from Kwara and Abia states shared at the engagement also highlighted the importance of legislative advocacy and extending nutrition financing beyond health ministries to other sectors, including education and women\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n

For Lagos, the priorities include increasing dedicated nutrition allocations, ensuring timely fund releases, strengthening local government interventions and exploring additional financing opportunities through the Child Nutrition Fund and private-sector partnerships.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the mother struggling to feed her child does not understand budget performance or funding mechanisms. She understands the cost of food, the difficulty of providing balanced meals, and the consequences when her child goes hungry.
But the decisions made in government budget offices can determine whether that child receives the nutrition needed to survive, grow, and fulfill their potential.<\/p>\n

Lagos cannot build a sustainable megacity while neglecting the nutritional needs of its children. The cost of investing in nutrition may be substantial, but the human and economic consequences of neglect could be far greater.<\/p>\n

The post High cost of neglect: Why Lagos must invest in child nutrition now<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Health Archives – Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chioma Obinna For a mother struggling to earn a living in one of Lagos\u2019 underserved communities, feeding her child is a daily battle. She may sell beans and bread… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}