ISLAMABAD: To commemorate World Food Day (WFD) NGOs have urged the government to take steps to end malnutrition in Pakistan, which is responsible for 35 per cent of deaths of under-five children.

The day is observed every year on October 16. This year the theme was ‘Social protection and Agriculture’ which aims to explain how social protection reduces poverty and food insecurity by ensuring people have direct access to food or a means to buy it.

The Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Alliance Society (SUN), a coalition of over 100 NGOs, has asked the government to raise awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding.

They said Pakistan has the lowest breastfeeding rate at 37.7 per cent and the highest bottle feeding rate at 41 per cent.

In his statement, the chairman of SUN, Dr Tanveer Ahmed, said Pakistan was facing a ‘silent crisis’ in the form of malnutrition.

He said our problem with malnutrition was the worst in the world and had not improved in decades.

Results of the 2011 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) had shown negligible changes over the last 10 years in core maternal and childhood nutrition indicators in the country.

He said: “One of the biggest reasons for Pakistan’s failure to reduce child mortality is malnutrition. The percentage of children with stunted growth has increased from 41.6 per cent to 43.7 per cent while the percentage of underweight children remains at 31.5 since 2001.”

The doctor added there were increases in Vitamin A deficiency cases and that there was little or no improvement in other micro nutrients.

He said: “The only success story for Pakistan is an improved iodine status”, adding that 69 per cent of households were using iodised salt compared to just 17 per cent in 2001.

SUN organisations urged the government to address malnutrition and to implement the Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance and its rules.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2015

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