
Abia’s Silent Crises: Battling Child Malnutrition With Data, Action, And Hope – By Dr. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
Abia’s Silent Crisis: Battling Child Malnutrition with Data, Action, and Hope" Abia State faces a silent but devastating crisis: over half of rural children suffer from acute malnutrition, with stunting, wasting, and underweight rates soaring as high as 29.6% in some communities. These numbers are more than statistics—they represent a generation at risk. Rural areas bear the heaviest burden, where poverty, low maternal education, and food insecurity trap families in cycles of hunger. For example, 37.5% of caregivers in Umuahia South earn less than ₦40,000 monthly, leaving little room for nutrient-rich diets. Compounding this, only 44% of mothers know when…