No fewer than 469 children have been reported to have died from malnutrition between January and July 2025 in Kano State, highlighting urgent gaps in nutrition and healthcare support.
The disclosure was made by Professor Ruqayya Aliyu Yusuf of the Department of Information and Media Studies, Bayero University Kano (BUK), while presenting a paper titled “Understanding the Basics of Behavioural Change: Towards Improving Malnutrition in Kano State” at a media sensitisation training.
Professor Yusuf said malnutrition and poor dietary practices remain major public health challenges in Kano, noting that Nigeria continues to rank poorly on the Global Nutrition Index.
She further cited 2025 UNICEF data, which indicate that about 40 per cent of Nigerian children under the age of five are stunted.
However, Yusuf noted that the situation in Kano is more severe, with 51.9 per cent of under-five children affected by stunting.
According to her, factors driving the crisis include poverty, food insecurity, limited dietary diversity, and weak health awareness among caregivers.
Also speaking at the event, crop scientist Amina Yahaya said Kano records the highest prevalence of underweight children under five in Nigeria.
Yahaya disclosed that 42.6 per cent of young children in the state are underweight, calling for nutrition interventions that focus on households.
She said homestead vegetable gardening could significantly improve family diets and enhance child nutrition outcomes.
Additionally, Yahaya warned that vitamin A deficiency contributes to childhood blindness and worsens infections such as measles and diarrhoea.
She added that these conditions collectively increase child mortality, urging sustained community-based nutrition education and agricultural support.
