Malnutrition costs Pakistan Rs4.733tr annually: report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faces a whopping economic cost of $17 billion (Rs4.733 trillion) on an annual basis equivalent to 4.6 percent of its Gross National Income (GNI) in the wake of persistent undernutrition crisis. The economic cost of under-nutrition has been calculated on the basis of four major factors including stunting, low birth-weight, anaemia in children and anaemia in adolescent girls and women.

These startling disclosures were made in a recent report prepared by the Nutrition International (NI). The major cost of inaction has been calculated on account of stunting as 34 percent of children under age five are stunted in the country.

Despite efforts to address the issue, 34 percent of Pakistani children under five are stunted, 22 percent of newborns have low birth weight and 53 percent of children aged 6-59 months suffer from anemia. These conditions result in cognitive losses, increased school dropouts and reduced productivity, further exacerbating economic challenges. Stunting alone costs the economy $16 billion annually, accounting for 4.2 percent of GNI. With over 10 million children affected and two million new cases reported annually, stunting leads to a loss of 21 million IQ points and 3.3 million school years every year.

“Pakistan ranks 18th globally and has the highest prevalence of stunting in South Asia,” the report noted, emphasising the urgent need to achieve the World Health Assembly’s (WHA) target of reducing stunting by 40 percent by 2025.