ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Almost 11.7 million children in the country are suffering from stunting (less height for age) and wasting (low weight for height), officials reports revealed.

According to the reports, the situation was indicative of the dismal state of malnutrition and high prevalence of infectious diseases among the children.

The stunting found in 40 per cent of the children (8.3 million) is because of unhealthy environmental conditions, malnutrition, inadequate protein and calorie intake.

This phenomena exists more in girls, particularly those living in rural areas, compared to boys. The 14 per cent children (three million), who are suffering from wasting, reflect the seriousness of the problem.

The children suffering from wasting are at a greater risk of dying of infections. Both stunting and wasting have their roots in malnourishment.

According to the official data, differences in nutritional status also exist along the urban-rural divide. Around 36 per cent of the urban children are moderately underweight, whereas in rural areas this percentage is as high as 40 per cent. In the urban areas, 11 per cent children are severely underweight, while in rural areas this figure reaches 15 per cent.

In Punjab, five million malnourished children are born annually that constitutes 25 per cent of all births in the province per year.

Child right activists and doctors, discussing the issue, said illiteracy, absence of adequate health facilities, and domestic violence, were the major causes of malnourishment among children. Mothers, who generally do not have access to health services, and do not get medical attention during pregnancy, are more prone to bearing malnourished children.

Besides the absence of proper facilities where women could go during pregnancy, the high rate of illiteracy and existence of social taboos, they said, were other major causes as to why women did not go for medical check ups during this period.

The depression following the domestic violence and the status of the estranged women are also main causes of malnourishment and related problems of stunting and wasting among children.

The single most important factor identified by the experts in this regard is the “quality of child care” that determines whether he or she will grows up well or not. They felt that poverty and governmental neglect might be some of the causative factors, but quality of child care was of greater significance.

Linking the quality of care with that of women’s lives, the experts said, mothers might love their kids a lot, but it was almost impossible for them to provide better quality care if they themselves were oppressed, illiterate, uninformed, anaemic, unhealthy, and without emotional support from their husbands.

The children right activists see this issue from the angle of basic rights, saying having adequate care and enough opportunities to develop their mental and physical potentials is the right of every child. —Zahra Syed