Complementary feeding under food insecurity: Challenges and pathways for child nutrition in Nigeria
1 Department of Nutrition and Diatetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
2 Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, Nigeria
3 Department of Primary Health Care Nursing, National Open University Lagos, Lagos State
4 Department of Health Education, Lagos State University
5 Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State.
6 Department of Nutrition and Diatetics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
7 Department of Public Health, Federal University of Allied Health Sciences, Enugu, Enugu State.
8 Department of Public Administration, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State.
Review
International Journal of Life Science Research Archive, 2025, 09(02), 036–055.
Article DOI: 10.53771/ijlsra.2025.9.2.0056
Publication history:
Received on 07 October 2025; revised on 15 November 2025; accepted on 17 November 2025
Abstract:
Complementary feeding is a crucial factor in particularly in the first 1,000 days of life of a child health, growth and development. In Nigeria, where food insecurity remains widespread, ensuring adequate complementary feeding and diversity of diets practices poses substantial challenges. This review summarizes recent research (2020–2025) on the relationship between food insecurity, complementary feeding habits, drivers, interventions and policy implication within food-insecure Nigeria contexts. Literature was retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and also institutional databases, which did include; UNICEF, WHO and FAO reports, and was also supplemented with national survey data. Findings of the study did reveal that less than 20% of Nigerian children, who are between age 6 and 23 months, do consistently achieve the minimum acceptable diet, and that is a reflection of the persistent gaps that still exists, when it comes to dietary diversity, and even meal frequency. The study also examines the effects of nutrition determinants such as household poverty, maternal education, cultural feeding norms, and even the limitations of access to diverse food, which sometimes does occur due to recurrent displacement that are caused by conflict and climate-related shocks. The study highlighted some interventions which do range from enhancement of nutrition education and introduction of supplementation programmes, to the introduction of community-based and policy-driven solutions, that can be adopted, in order to mitigate the child nutrition challenges. It also does note that policy gaps still remain, with reference to the issue of sustainable financing, regulatory oversight, and also the equitable spread of nutrition enhancement programmes, to fragile regions. It concludes by stating that Complementary feeding must be strengthened, especially in the case of food poverty, through the adoption of multi-sectoral approaches, which do connect health, agricultural, and also social protection.
Keywords:
Complementary Feedings; Food Insecurity; Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Child Malnutrition; Nutrition and Policy Interventions; Nigeria; Maternal Education.
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0