At least 185,502 more children were treated for acute malnutrition across seven northern Nigerian states in 2025 than in the preceding two years, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).
The figures, contained in an MSF report obtained by Sunday PUNCH, show a sharp deterioration in the nutrition situation across Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno and Sokoto states.
In its report, titled Nigeria: Increased malnutrition crisis for children and the mental health strain for caregivers, MSF said its teams treated 425,634 children for acute malnutrition in northern Nigeria in 2025.
The figure represented a 41.8 per cent increase from the slightly more than 300,165 children treated in 2024, translating to 125,469 additional cases in one year.
MSF said the 2024 figure itself was 25 per cent higher than the number treated in 2023, which it estimated at about 240,132 children.
The organisation attributed the worsening crisis to several factors, including armed conflict, displacement, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, reduced humanitarian funding and the wider economic crisis.
It also linked the funding challenges to the discontinuation of support for major global health initiatives under the administration of United States President Donald Trump.
MSF warned that the situation had remained critical in 2026, with an estimated 34.7 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity during the current lean season.
It further estimated that more than 5.4 million children across Nigeria were suffering from acute malnutrition.
MSF currently operates nutrition programmes in Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states, with 12 Inpatient Therapeutic Feeding Centres and more than 30 Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding Centres.
Between January and June 2025, the organisation said it admitted 32,940 severely malnourished children to inpatient facilities, while another 136,255 were enrolled in outpatient therapeutic feeding programmes.
The two interventions accounted for more than 169,000 children treated during the first six months of 2025 alone.
Caregivers face psychological strain
Beyond the physical effects of malnutrition on children, MSF said the crisis was also taking a significant psychological toll on caregivers, most of whom are mothers.
The organisation said caregivers accompanying children admitted for severe acute malnutrition often spend extended periods at treatment centres, with some remaining for between seven and 45 days depending on the severity of their children’s conditions.
Such prolonged stays can separate caregivers from their other children and household responsibilities, adding to the emotional pressure associated with caring for a seriously ill child.
“Malnutrition is one disease that doesn’t just affect the child physically. It has psychological, emotional and behavioural implications,” MSF’s mental health supervisor in Bauchi, Kauna Bako, was quoted as saying.
In response, MSF said it had integrated mental health and psychosocial support into its nutrition programmes.
At its Nilefa Kiji nutrition facility in Maiduguri, Borno State, caregivers receive psychological first aid when they arrive, followed by individual counselling and group sessions aimed at helping them discuss their experiences and develop coping mechanisms.
Children are also involved in structured play activities intended to provide a sense of normality while they undergo treatment.
In Kano and Katsina, MSF said physiotherapists had incorporated rehabilitation into malnutrition care through play and sensorimotor stimulation.
Mental health support has also been integrated into treatment protocols in Bauchi and Zamfara for both children and their caregivers.
The organisation said some caregivers became distressed after losing contact with relatives while staying at treatment centres. In such cases, counsellors help them contact family members by telephone and, where necessary, arrange supervised visits home so they can briefly attend to family concerns before returning to complete their children’s treatment.
MSF said its research and field experience in Nigeria and neighbouring Niger had shown that integrating mental health support into malnutrition treatment could contribute to faster weight gain, shorter stays in inpatient feeding centres and improved psychological wellbeing among caregivers.
