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he social and economic future of any country is directly associated with its children. If the coming generation is healthy then the country’s future is secure. However, if the children of a country are suffering from malnutrition and resulting stunted growth, then the future of that country is neither resilient nor sustainable.
Pakistan is not an exception to this fact. As per World Bank Group, 40 per cent of the children under five are suffering from stunted growth in Pakistan. Not enough progress has been made during the past 30 years to mitigate the issue. Our children deserve better. We have what it takes to eradicate child stunting and offer a socially equitable, financially viable and ecologically sustainable future to our coming generations in Pakistan.
What is child stunting?
According to World Health Organization, stunting is reduced growth and development in children because of poor nutrition, repeated infection and insufficient opportunities to play and learn. The first 1000 days of a child’s life (from conception till the child turns two) are crucial to prevent stunting. If stunting occurs in a child during this period, it causes adverse functional consequences like poor cognition and educational performance, lost productivity and low adult wages.
For Pakistan to commence sustainable social and economic development in future, it needs to ensure that pregnant women, mothers and children get adequate nutrition. There is a need to ensure that children do not suffer from repeat infections. The WHO points out that 27 mothers and 675 newborns (under one month) die from preventable complications in Pakistan each day.
As per United Nations (UN), the very definition of sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Thus, to implement sustainable development in letter and spirit in Pakistan, we must make future generations our top priority.
If we want a future that is socially equitable, financially viable and ecologically sustainable, we must prioritise our children.
Eradicating stunting
A systematic approach is needed to tackle multiple problems simultaneously. Initiating a green revolution to produce two-times more food from existing resources is a much-needed step in this case According to Food and Agricultural Organization , agriculture is a major cause of eutrophication in surface water. We need to protect our water bodies and ensure the availability of safe drinking water, as waterborne diseases are among the leading causes of childhood mortality and slow growth.
Other than increasing efficiency in agriculture sector, we must prioritise the promotion of mobile hospitals to prevent repeated infections in our children. These mobile hospitals must also be equipped with proper air-conditioning to prevent wastage of medication and vaccines during transportation. As per World Health Organization, all vaccines experience much quicker loss of effectiveness when subjected to temperatures over +8 degrees Celsius. Thus, ensuring steady air-conditioning in mobile hospitals will preserve vaccines and other medication that then in turn help us in avoiding repeated infection in children across Pakistan. Finally, we must ensure that all schools have proper playgrounds where children can play to realise their full potential. Our pre-schools and schools should follow an educational model where children get equal opportunities to learn and play.
If we want a future that is socially equitable, financially viable and ecologically sustainable, we must prioritise our children. We cannot take our future generation for granted and still hope for sustainable development.
The writer is a Stockholm-based policy analyst and the founder / operations manager of Project Green Earth (www.projectge.org). He can be reached at aubhameediyahoo.com.