Price hike forces pregnant women to abandon fruits despite health risks

Every time seven-months-pregnant Ayo Sarumi walks past fruit stalls in her neighbourhood, she keeps moving. Watermelons, which used to be her craving and a regular part of her diet, have become an expense she can no longer justify. “Now that the price is competing with the amount of money I need to spend on food, I have to choose one,” the mother of two, who is expecting her third child, said. Like many pregnant women battling rising food prices, Sarumi now depends on daily multivitamins she is given at her antenatal clinic, hoping they can replace the nutrients she is missing from fruits. The hairstylist’s story mirrors a wider trend captured in the latest National Bureau of Statistics Cost of a Healthy Diet report, which showed that the minimum daily cost of a healthy diet rose to N1,513 per adult in February 2025, with fruits and vegetables ranking among the most expensive food groups. Also, a five-month pregnant miller, Mrs Kajorepo, now eats fruit “once in a while.” Reflecting on her previous pregnancies, Kajorepo said fruits were more affordable then, making it easier to include them regularly in her diet. The miller, who is pregnant with her fourth child, attributed the sharp rise in fruit prices to rising transportation costs and the general surge in food prices across the country. Kajorepo said the situation had forced her to cut back on fruit consumption, despite knowing its importance during pregnancy. But nutrition experts told PUNCH Healthwise that pregnant mothers must consume fruits daily to help with the growth and development of the foetus. Now, indigent pregnant mothers, especially those living in the cities, say that fruit is now a luxury they cannot afford. Market surveys reveal that one pineapple, for example, costs between N700 and N1,500, depending on the size and location in the country, in 2026. Now, the same size of pineapple costs between N1,000 and N2,000. Further surveys show that mangoes, which are currently in season, cost about N500 per plate in 2025. Now, a plate costs N1,000 with a piece selling for as much as N250. Fruit traders attributed the increased price to transportation costs and inflation. PUNCH Healthwise reports that following the US-Iran war, the price of fuel rose from N1,051 per litre in February 2026 to N1,532 per litre and is currently fixed at N1,320. Since then, prices of food, goods and services have further increased, coupled with the food and economic inflation the country is experiencing. But nutrition experts have warned that the rising cost of fruits and vegetables is forcing many pregnant women to reduce consumption of nutrient-rich foods essential for fetal growth, increasing the risk of anaemia, birth defects, low birth weight and poor pregnancy outcomes. The experts noted that fruits and vegetables, which are major sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre needed during pregnancy, have become increasingly unaffordable for many families following the persistent rise in food prices across the country. They further warned that pregnant women who consume little quantities of fruits due to financial constraints may not meet their daily nutritional requirements, stressing that inadequate intake could impair fetal brain and spinal cord development, weaken maternal immunity and increase complications during pregnancy. Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise, a Public Health Nutrition Specialist and Senior Technical Advisor with FHI 360, James Oloyede, said fruits and vegetables were critical during pregnancy because they contain micronutrients that support the development of the baby and protect the health of the mother. “Fruits and vegetables are important because they are very dense in what you call micronutrients. Micronutrients, which are required in small quantities, speed up a lot of processes in the body of an individual. “Most of the fruit and vegetables contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, and fibre, which are very good. They support the growth of the baby. And because they support the growth, they also, in a way, provide something like a building block for the development of the baby,” he said. He noted that fruits and vegetables also help to prevent constipation and morning sickness during pregnancy, while nutrients such as folate contained in leafy vegetables help to prevent neural tube defects in unborn babies. “For instance, fruit and vegetables contain folate, vitamin B9, which in a way prevents what you call neural tube defects in an unborn child. And of course, when a child is affected with neural tube defects, then it affects the development of the brain of the baby and the spinal cord, most especially,” Oloyede stated. The nutrition specialist further explained that iron contained in dark green vegetables boosts red blood cell production and prevents anaemia in pregnant women. On the implications of poor fruit intake during pregnancy, Oloyede warned that the inability to consume fruits and vegetables could endanger both the mother and the unborn child. “When a woman cannot take fruits and vegetables, it’s a potent danger for both the mother and the unborn baby. “One of them is neural tube defects, which affect the spinal cord of the baby and even the brain formation. “And since most of the micronutrients that are needed to speed up certain processes in the body are contained in fruit and vegetables, when a parent does not take that, that’s a slowdown of that process leading to, for instance, if she doesn’t take fruit and vegetables that contain iron, there’ll be anaemia,” he said. He added that poor maternal nutrition could also impair the function of the placenta and increase the risk of low birth weight and babies born small for gestational age. “Most children are born small for their gestational age. We call them SGA, small for gestational age, or a low birth weight baby. “And it happens when in the womb, the foetus is not supplied with essential nutrients, like amino acids that are needed for growth, and there’s no micronutrient to speed up the metabolic process,” he explained. Oloyede urged pregnant women to make fruits and vegetables a part of their daily meals regardless of the quantity they could afford. “We always advise pregnant women to take the fruit in season. Nigeria is abundantly blessed with all kinds of fruits and vegetables at various seasons,” he said. He added, “Every day, a pregnant woman must take fruits and vegetables. Don’t let a day pass without taking fruits and vegetables.” Also speaking, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Chief Dietitian with the Lagos State Health Service Commission, Olusola Malomo, said fruits and vegetables were important during pregnancy because of their role in brain and central nervous system development. “According to the Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition, folate is one of the important nutrients that is needed, particularly in the first six weeks of pregnancy because it’s needed in the growth and development of the brain and the central nervous system,” he said. Malomo warned that a deficiency of essential nutrients during pregnancy could lead to complications for both mother and child. “A pregnant woman who is not eating enough fruits and vegetables may have the tendency of the body not producing enough iron, and for such a person, she may have a low PCV, and that is an indication of anaemia,” he said. The dietitian explained that rising fruit prices meant many women now consume smaller quantities that do not meet recommended nutritional requirements. “Because these fruits are expensive now, she cannot afford the quantity that will give her what her body needs. “So, all she is doing now is just, she has to eat fruit, has eaten fruit, but the quantity of that fruit she has eaten will not give her the quality needed by the body,” he noted. The nutrition advocate advised pregnant women to properly wash fruits and separate them from raw meat and fish to prevent cross-contamination. “You need to wash, you need to separate, so that you don’t have cross-contamination of microorganisms from probably the meat, the fish, to the fruit, which you may end up eating raw,” he said. Malomo also stressed that quantity and quality matter in fruit consumption during pregnancy. “Eating fruit is not just enough, but eating the quantity that will meet what her body needs and the baby’s. Then also, taking the quality, that is where the safety and the hygiene come in,” he added.