Daily Times

Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness but how could it be possible when more than forty percent children of the country are being faced with stunted growth and that too largely due to malnutrition.

Primarily, stunted growth among children occurs when they fail to get the required intake on a daily basis. This causes various long term physical and mental health complications such as poor immune system, abnormal height or weight, and in some cases both, alongside cognitive repercussions. The bodies and brains of more than forty percent children in the country are being incessantly faced with stunted growth.

Eradicating this menace which has become enemy number one due to the fact that it has posed serious threats to the health of the children. If continued it will make the affected population unable to cope with the future challenges.

Whether it is malnutrition, under nutrition or recurrent infections such as diarrhea, chest infections or helminthiasis it is injurious to the health of children. It fails them to acquire the required height or weight as per their age. Moreover,the phenomenon of stunted growth is more worrisome due to the fact that the height or weight loss of the vulnerable kids may never be regained.

The intergenerational cycle of malnutrition means that the stunted growth can even be passed on to the next generation. However, other than malnutrition, the stunted growth of children is also caused due to lack of breastfeeding, safe drinking water and poor maternal nutrition, inadequate psychological stimulation, unhygienic environment, poor sanitation, unhealthy childcare practices, and inadequacy in complementary food intake. Therefore, the preventive measures against stunted growth are to ensure access to clean drinking water, better and diverse foods, improved sanitation, hand washing, rich maternal nutrition and good childcare practices.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if less than 20 percent of the population is affected by stunted growth, it is considered as “low prevalence” while if more than 40 percent of the population is affected, it is regarded as “high prevalence” in terms of public health significance. Unfortunately, Pakistan has been faced with high prevalence of stunting growth as according to UN statistics; more than 44% children of the country under the age of five years suffer from stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition. Likewise, as per the government and UNICEF National Nutrition Survey 2018, KP with its newly merged districts has the highest stunting growth 48.03% under the age of five years followed by Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan 46.6%, Sindh 45.5%, AJK 39.3% , Punjab 36.4% and Islamabad 32.6%.

PTI Senator Prof. Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani said that from day one the PTI-led government has taken the issue of malnutrition very seriously. “The issue needs a multipronged approach including health education, health awareness programs, vaccination, sanitation.”