Food Prices, Nutrition and Health Status of Nigerian Students: What Implication for the Future?

With the current trend in food prices, it is no longer news that many Nigerians now struggle to access nutritional foods needed for good health sustenance. In fact, the World Bank recently revealed that about 7 million Nigerians have become poorer as a result of the soaring food prices. In light of this, it would not be out of place to state that the health of Nigerians will further decline. The relationship between nutrition and health has been established in the literature. Indeed, people who are keen on eating a balanced diet do so basically because they want to enjoy good health. Therefore, the rise in food prices in Nigeria is a call for concern for public health (health outcomes).

On the other hand, doctors have also affirmed the strong connection between the workings of the brain and eating a balanced diet. Therefore, students (in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions) need a balanced diet for optimal brain performance. I am not leaving out primary school pupils because the rigour pre-schoolers and primary school children face in this generation is unquantifiable. These young ones have to learn (and play of course) in school and still come home with loads of assignments (that’s a discussion for another day). Secondary school and tertiary institutions’ students also have to meet various demands for projects, write-ups, and term papers. Yet, they are threatened by constrained access to a major ingredient needed for their high performance.

If the current trend in food prices continues unabated, there is a high possibility that many parents of primary and secondary schoolers will only give their children less nutritious foods; while the higher institution students will find a way of filling their stomach with junk (habit advisors, parents, and guardians have often discouraged students from) with a justification for doing so! And what would we reap? A generation of malnourished children with poor educational skills- this is enough to crush all the efforts geared towards human capital development in the country. It is my earnest hope that we look inward as a country and develop our food basket optimally such that the teeming large population will be well nourished. This way, we can boast of a future of bright Nigerian intellectuals who will make the country proud.