Beyond stunted growth, malnutrition limits children’s problem
Nutritionists warn that severe childhood malnutrition and stunting lead to long-term cognitive and academic deficits. Data indicates that 40 percent of children under five in Nigeria are stunted, creating a cycle of developmental challenges.
Why it matters
Addressing early childhood nutrition is critical for long-term economic productivity and breaking cycles of poverty in developing nations.
Children who experience severe malnutrition leading to stunting are at risk of impaired learning ability and academic performance, leading to poorer school outcomes, including repeating a grade, nutritionists have warned.
The experts noted that beyond restricting physical growth, prolonged undernutrition could affect brain development, attention, memory, comprehension and problem-solving, making it harder for affected children to learn and perform well academically.
They further explained that the effects of prolonged undernutrition could extend beyond childhood, limiting a child’s ability to attain their full physical and developmental potential and potentially contributing to an intergenerational cycle of undernutrition when affected girls later become mothers.
According to the World Health Organisation, stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.
The WHO defines children as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median.
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