ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continues to lack progress in child malnutrition, a multi-sectoral problem that presents across a continuum of poor nutrition, from under-nutrition due to deficiencies in energy, protein, and micronutrients to problems of overweight and obesity.

“The situation is quite dire in Pakistan, with stunting and wasting heavily prevalent in the country”, according to the latest report published on Thursday by Pakistan Nutrition Cluster and the ministry of national health.

Stunting does not only mean that a child is not having enough to eat. Inadequate nutrition among mothers during pregnancy is one of the main reasons of malnutrition among children leading to stunting. Wasting is extremely high in Pak­istan, with several areas in the country considered to be at emergency level of wasting, the report says.

It says that humanitarian crises gravely limit the realisation of the sustained improvement in the nutritional status of the communities and present us with the most extreme forms of multidimensional vulnerability.

Preventing and addressing nutritional needs req­uire effective and efficient nutrition programming and coordination, as integral components of a coherent and consistent multi-sectoral response, prior to, during and after a crisis.

Despite improvements in other socio-economic indicators, acute malnutrition remains in a state of nutrition emergency, and this is the highest rate of wasting in Pakistan’s history, it says.

In Pakistan, four out of 10 children under five years of age are stunted while 17.7 per cent suffer from wasting. The double burden of malnutrition is becoming increasingly apparent, with almost one in three children underweight (28.9pc) alongside a high prevalence of overweight (9.5pc) in the same age group.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2024