Advancing maternal-child nutrition key to combating stunting, obesity: Experts
PESHAWAR (APP): The health experts at an awareness seminar here on Wednesday stressed the urgent need to improve maternal and child nutrition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting malnutrition particularly stunting, wasting, and obesity as major public health challenges driven by the cultural taboos and environmental factor besides socioeconomic disparities.
The awareness seminar, titled “Increase gains in nutrition by engaging media professionals as advocates for advancing maternal, child and adolescent nutrition” was organized by Save the Children International in collaboration with UNICEF and the Press Information Department (PID) Peshawar.
Held at a local hotel, the seminar brought together health professionals, NGOs and representatives of print, electronic and digital media aimed at promoting nutrition advocacy.
Azam Kiani, National Project Manager at Save the Children, noted that both undernutrition and overnutrition remain pressing issues in Pakistan. Citing the National Nutrition Survey 2018, he said 40% of children under five in KP are stunted, 15% wasted, 23.1% underweight, and 12.9% overweight. Additionally, 56.1% of children are anemic, while only 60.8% are exclusively breastfed—a relatively positive figure.
He added that the nutritional status of women is similarly concerning i.e. 38.2% are anemic, 47.7% deficient in Vitamin A, and 76.4% lack sufficient Vitamin D. Furthermore, 28.2% of women are overweight or obese, while 8.3% are underweight. Among adolescents, 56.2% of girls are anemic, with 15.3% overweight and 8.5% obese.
“These alarming figures underscore the need for targeted, age and gender-specific interventions on priority basis at national and provincial level,” said Azam Kiani. He added that similar awareness sessions have been conducted with religious leaders recently at Peshawar, with a seminar for provincial lawmakers also planned.
Shiza Hameed, National Project Coordinator at Save the Children, emphasized the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and warned against the use of formula milk for newborns. She called for strict enforcement of breastfeeding laws, including revoking licenses of doctors promoting formula milk for profit.
“Malnutrition costs Pakistan an estimated $7.6 billion annually—3% of GDP,” she noted, adding that the global breast milk substitute market is worth $55 billion per year.
Dr. Fazal Majeed, Director of Nutrition at the Directorate General Health Services, attributed malnutrition to poverty, unemployment, and climate change. He said KP had enacted the Protection of Breastfeeding Act 2015 and established breastfeeding corners in 22 major hospitals and at Bacha Khan International Airport under the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
He added that around 150 Nausnoma (Growth) Centres were operating across various districts under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), providing financial assistance to the underprivileged to promote balanced diet.
The experts urged the media to play a proactive role in raising awareness through regular coverage, features, and public education efforts on nutrition and breastfeeding to ensure healthier generations.
The PID Peshawar officers assured full support to the organizers for arranging such awareness seminars in future.
