Beyond Hunger: Unravelling the Malnutrition Crisis in Nigeria

Nigeria, one of the most populous countries in Africa, is among the nations with the highest prevalence of child stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies, as well as increasing diet-related non-communicable diseases and food insecurity among children aged below five years. These coexisting conditions within households reflect malnutrition's paradoxical and multidimensional nature. Although individual research studies have focused on specific dimensions of malnutrition, there is a lack of overall synthesis that illustrates the causal pathway between structural determinants, biological mechanisms, and health outcomes. Moreover, heterogeneity in geographic, demographic and methodological characteristics reduces comparability between studies and evidence-based policy making. This review offers a coordinated, integrated examination of four domains of the nutritional crisis in Nigeria: (1) epidemiology of prevalence and distribution; (2) causes by the immediate, underlying and basic determinants framework of the United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF); (3) consequences on life-course; and (4) evaluation of policy response. Thus, malnutrition is a consequence of entrenched structural inequities, ecological vulnerability and governance failure. Mitigation strategies will involve transformative, multi-sectoral, equity-focused policies that tackle underlying determinants, increase the resilience of households, food systems and health infrastructure, going beyond simply scaling up targeted interventions.