Price hike: Our children no longer take eggs to school, parents lament

P Parents with children in kindergarten and primary school have expressed frustration as they grapple with the high cost of eggs, lamenting that their kids no longer take eggs to school since their resumption in September following the persistent price hike.

Some of them, who spoke to PUNCH Healthwise, said the increase in the price of eggs had left them no option but to stop buying them for their children even when they needed the protein for their optimal development.

The parents said a crate of eggs they bought for N4000 a few weeks ago now sells for between N6,000 and N6,500, while a single egg now sells for N250 or more, depending on the location.

The rising cost of maintaining a healthy diet has put a strain on many Nigerians.
The average daily cost of a healthy diet in the country reached N1,255 per adult in August 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The NBS in its latest report said the increase represented a 28 per cent rise compared to N982 in March 2024.

Meanwhile, the Poultry Association of Nigeria had warned that if urgent steps were not taken to support poultry farmers, prices of eggs might increase from the current N5,500 to N10,000 per crate.

The association attributed the rising cost of the protein to the high cost of transportation as a result of fuel subsidy removal as well as the indiscriminate increase in feed prices by the millers.

The Secretary of the Association, Federal Capital Territory chapter, Musa Hakeem, said this at a press briefing to commemorate World Egg Day on Saturday in Abuja.

The frustrated parents cried out that not giving their eggs would significantly affect their nutrition and health, citing important nutrients in eggs such as protein, vitamins, and minerals which they said were essential for growing children.

They also expressed concern that the worrisome development might expose their children to the risk of malnutrition.

One of them, Mrs. Shade Afolabi, a hairstylist at Agboju Market Old Ojo Road, Lagos, said eggs had become a luxury for her three children as they no longer go to school with them.

The mother of three, who used to put eggs in her kids’ lunchboxes, lamented that poor families could no longer buy eggs for their children.

She stressed that egg was the major protein she used to put in her children’s meals but could no longer do so due to a hike in price occasioned by high transportation and poultry feed.

The stylist further said when a crate of eggs was sold for N3,600, she used to put one egg in each of their lunch boxes, but when it rose to N4,200, she started sharing one egg among them to cut expenses.

“Now, I don’t even put it at all since they started selling a crate of eggs for N6,000. I buy the medium-sized egg for N250 or more for the three of them, I would be spending N1,000 every morning coupled with transport fare to school.

“My husband and I can no longer afford a crate of eggs now because of the high cost of living. I have to pay for a commercial motorcyclist who would take them to school and bring them back.

“There is no money in the country, and everybody tries to reduce their expenditures. We are no longer thinking about a balanced diet for the household again; we only eat to be alive. This is not good for our children’s health.”

She added that the rising cost of basic proteins such as eggs, beans, and meat underscores the need for policies that could address food affordability and promote nutritional awareness in schools and communities.

Also, Promise Mgbuemena, a petty trader selling vegetables at Arena Market, Oshodi, said the hike in the price of eggs had forced many low-income parents to make difficult choices about what to include in their children’s meals.

The mother of five noted that the situation could impact the children’s health and educational outcomes.

She said, “It is becoming difficult for us to think of the food that the children would take to school. There are some meals that you will use eggs to balance, but without eggs, this decision is difficult.

“We were told that eggs are essential for a growing child and that we should try to include them in their diet every day, especially when making noodles. I usually add one egg to each of my children’s lunch boxes when I prepare rice for them for school, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult now.

“Of course, meat is now out of reach because the cost has significantly increased due to the rising transportation expenses for bringing cattle from the north to Lagos.”

Mgbuemena and her security guard husband do not make enough money to meet up with the high cost of staple foods, especially beans, fish, meat, and rice.

“When I prepared noodles for my children, I used to put eggs for them because that was the cheapest source of protein that I could easily give to my children. Fish and meat are expensive.

“Now, I have been thinking hard to know what to combine in their food that would achieve what an egg does but is not easy doing that and I do not want them to be malnourished, and I will start buying drugs. Every day, prices of foods are going up beyond the common man’s reach,” she added.

According to the United Nations Children Funds, Nigeria has the second highest burden of stunted children in the world, with a national prevalence rate of 32 percent of children under five.

UNICEF estimated that two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition, but only two out of every 10 children affected is currently reached with treatment.

It noted that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life offer a unique window of opportunity for preventing undernutrition and its consequences through healthy diets.

Meanwhile, the latest World Health Organisation report also revealed that malnutrition is a direct or underlying cause of 45 percent of all deaths among children under five.

In another development, a petty trader who sells paper and tomatoes at Iyanoba Market, Arafat Hammed, said eating eggs for his children has become a thing of serious concern.

He said that he could no longer afford the cost of an egg which now sells for N250 per one.
Mrs Eliazeth Adebowale, a food vendor at Oshodi, said she had replaced the egg with plantain in her children’s meals in the school.

“I won’t put eggs in their lunch boxes again. What I do is to put plantain on top of the rice in place of meat or eggs. Eggs are no longer affordable. I sell one egg in my shop for N300. Giving my three children eggs every morning will shorten my profit.

“We were told to be giving our children eggs every day for positive growth and intelligence, but at this point, I don’t know what to do. I will find an alternative to eggs, or maybe I will give them once a week,” she said.

A Consultant Paediatrician at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Dr Stanley Onah, said parents who want the best for their kids should add eggs to their lunch boxes.

He noted that feeding the children with eggs at least once a day will bring about great outcomes, saying that eggs play a big role in the growth and development of a child.

He said, “From a nutritional perspective, eggs are simply an incredible food and are an excellent source of iron and are a nutritious source of protein, fat, Vitamins A, D, E, and B12 and choline.

“Eggs offer so much to our children. They are at the core of a diet that will help them grow up healthy, strong, and smart. So do your best to feed your kids eggs despite the cost.”

Also, a Consultant Public Health Physician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr Modupe Akinyinka, said proteins such as fish, meat, egg, and crayfish are essential for the growth and development of under-five children.

She noted that children under five years should consume three or four eggs every week with other diets to avoid stunting or underweight.

Akinyinka emphasised that mothers must feed their under-five children with protein-rich foods because they need them to grow properly.

She stressed that children need protein because they are growing, adding that their cells are rapidly dividing and need protein to grow optimally.

“Children under five years should consume three or four eggs every week plus other diverse diets. We encourage mothers to make sure their babies take different types of diets. You know that all these foods don’t contain one nutrient.”

On the solution, a nutritionist and the Director of Nutrition Services and Health Education at the Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, James Oloyede said fortifying our foods will help to meet up with this deficiency.

He explained that while the consumption of biofortified foods can reduce micronutrient deficiencies, the extent of this reduction depends on the specific nutrients present in those foods.

Oloyede emphasised that for Nigerians to feed healthily amid rising prices of staple food, they have to master the act of healthy food combination.

He said, “Nigerians find it difficult to achieve a balanced diet with home-grown food. They don’t know which less expensive protein can be combined with other foods to make their meals balanced.

“There are about 10 classes of food in the country and the target is to have at least five out of these classes of food in your meals to make them balanced. Anythi