PESHAWAR,  Sept 8: The NWFP Health Department has planned to establish clinics at selected health facilities where counselling services with regard to nutrition-related problems will be provided to women and children.

“Female health workers will be trained to distribute deworming drugs, folate and iron among women and children and administer mega doses of vitamin A to children suffering from measles and diarrhoea,” said Dr Fayyaz Ali, assistant director, reproductive health department.

Lady health workers will train mothers in detecting signs of malnutrition and educate them in dietary rehabilitation of their ill children.

Nutrition rehabilitation centres will be established at rural health centres to cater to the needs of the first and second degree malnutrition cases and refer those, coming with the third degree, to secondary and tertiary health care facilities.

Likewise, a nutrition education programme, using mass media, will be developed and implemented at community level in order to gradually bring behavioural changes in proper intake of nutrients.

A provincial public health food laboratory will be established in the city to enforce relevant laws and monitoring protocols will be developed to ensure proper enrichment of banaspati ghee with vitamin A, iodization of salt  and fortification of flour with iron.

According to an official, 31-52 per cent children in the NWFP were under-weight, 40 per cent pregnant women suffered from anaemia, whereas 25-32 per cent deliveries had low birth weight.

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is prevalent among pregnant and lactating mothers as well as in young children.

A study of children conducted by a local nutritionist in two semi-urban areas of the NWFP showed that 90 per cent of them were anaemic.

Another study of 100 pregnant women aged between 16 and 35 years in the last week of their third trimester revealed 56 per cent of them were anaemic.