Effects of Malnutrition on I.Q

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has affirmed that over 50 per cent of the death of children under five years old and women in the Northern part of Nigeria has been accounted for by malnutrition.

Susan Adeyemi, who represented Dr. Florence Oni, a UNICEF Nutrition Specialist,  while presenting a paper at a one day interactive meeting with other media executives on nutrition stated that the North-west has 53 per cent malnutrition prevalence according to 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surrey (MICS) co-hosted by UNICEF and the Kaduna State Corporation (KSMC)

She further disclosed that millions of children die from avertible causes and that every minute about eight children under the ages of five die and two out of those eight children are newborns.

She also explained that malnutrition could lead to stunting in a child’s growth and that a stunted child also would have a stunted mental capacity and such a child will operate at a sub-optimal  mental level .i.e. a reduced Intelligence Quotient.