Comparing Pakistan to other emerging nations, it has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition. Around the world, there are “165 million” under-fives who are malnourished. At least 50 per cent of all childhood fatalities globally are caused by malnutrition. In general, developing and undeveloped nations are the only places where child malnutrition is an issue. The main factor causing morbidity and death in children is malnutrition. Undernutrition is to blame for about half of all child deaths worldwide. Additionally, it endangers newborns’ physical and mental growth, which has a negative impact on their academic performance. For a child’s immune system to be robust and for optimal physical and intellectual development in the early years, adequate nourishment is essential.
It is concerning how many health issues there are in Pakistan. Due to a lack of resources and poor economic conditions, Pakistan’s health problems lead to ailments that are challenging to cure. Around 60 million people in Pakistan are considered to be poor. Because they don’t have enough money. The number of local hospitals, physicians, and nurses in Pakistan is insufficient to meet the needs of the underprivileged.
In order to fulfil our international commitment to eradicate poor diets and malnutrition, evidence-based, timely, and effective interventions are essential. As occurrences of severe acute malnutrition among children and women in Pakistan have been on the rise, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) launched new initiatives in 2020 to improve preventive and treatment services. Therefore, in 2020, there were “149.2 million” stunted children worldwide, with 6.9 per cent of the problem being in Pakistan.
Around the world, “811 million” people go to sleep hungry every morning and have no idea where they will get their next meal. A daily reality that is getting worse as the globe struggles to deal with rising food costs, continuous wars, climatic shocks like floods or droughts, and the Covid-19 pandemic. A nation that is more economically productive and socially engaged will result from individuals having healthy diets as a basis for the development of their physical, cognitive, social, and productive attributes. Despite that, Poor diets and nutrition pose a risk of locking people and nations into long-term disadvantages, according to the “Pakistan Economic Survey, 2021-22”.
The main reason for the high maternal and infant mortality rate is child undernutrition. Stunting is a problem for more than half of children under five, and more than “40 per cent” of them are underweight. Another effect of malnutrition is the weakening of the body’s natural defence mechanisms.
The number of children under five who are moderately or severely stunted worldwide is projected to be “170 million” nearly 30 per cent, while the number of children who are moderately or severely underweight is 110 million nearly 19 per cent. Two-thirds of the world’s “wasted children” – 51 million – live in Asia. Therefore, the socio-economic and future health of children and the dynamic future of society are all impacted by malnutrition. Comparing Pakistan to other developing nations, it has been stated that it has one of the highest prevalence rates of child malnutrition.
In order to improve children’s nutritional status and to bring attention to this issue, the causes of malnutrition in the early years should be researched. The mother’s eating habits, autonomy, and conduct around reproductive health care are also linked to the main causes of child malnutrition. In order to fully understand the reasons for child malnutrition, it is also important to understand the diet and types of food that mothers like to feed their children. As a result, it is also recommended that the dietary diversity (DD) recall method be used in order to learn about the favourite cuisine that mothers feed their kids.
