Kano State lost 469 children to malnutrition between January and July 2025, highlighting the persistent threat of poor nutrition to child survival in the state.

Professor Ruqayya Aliyu Yusuf of Bayero University Kano (BUK) disclosed this during a media sensitization training, presenting her paper titled “Understanding the Basics of Behavioural Change: Towards Improving Malnutrition in Kano State.” She noted that malnutrition and unhealthy dietary practices remain critical public health challenges, with Nigeria ranking low on the Global Nutrition Index.

Citing 2025 UNICEF data, Professor Yusuf revealed that 40% of Nigerian children under five are stunted, while Kano’s figure is significantly higher at 51.9%. She identified poverty, food insecurity, poor dietary habits, and limited caregiver awareness as key drivers of the crisis.

Also speaking at the event, crop scientist Amina Ado Yahaya highlighted that 42.6% of children under five in Kano are underweight—the highest in the country. She advocated for localized solutions like homestead vegetable gardening to boost household nutrition and emphasized that Vitamin A deficiency contributes to childhood blindness and worsens infections such as measles and diarrhea, increasing child mortality.