The Pakistan government rarely misses a chance to tell the world that we are a young country, which ideally translates to a highly productive society brimming with ideas. Unfortunately, the government is wilfully missing out on this potential by ignoring a glaring issue: malnutrition. According to recent reports, Nutrition International (NI), a Canada-based NGO that provides nutrition interventions to vulnerable people, says that Pakistan bears an economic cost of $17 billion (Rs4.7 trillion) annually due to malnutrition. This means that the country has to bear with lost productivity, increased healthcare expenses, reduced educational outcomes and stunted economic growth due to malnutrition-related health issues. It’s not that the government is not doing anything to tackle the issue. But the scale of the problem is so large that the government’s stringent measures are also becoming ineffective. According to the NI report, Pakistan ranks 18th globally and has the highest prevalence of stunting in South Asia. Despite efforts to address the issue, 34 per cent of Pakistani children under five are stunted, 22 per cent of newborns have low birth weight and 53 per cent of children aged 6-59 months suffer from anaemia. These conditions, says the report, result in cognitive losses, increased school dropouts and reduced productivity, further exacerbating economic challenges.
One of the reasons for the ever-evolving nature of the problem is the sharp class divides that Pakistan currently faces. Malnutrition is usually high in children from low-income backgrounds whose parents are involved in menial jobs, sometimes earning less than the minimum wage due to their employment in the informal workforce. The affluent have a rather condescending take on the problem and conveniently put the blame on poor parents for giving birth to children they apparently cannot provide for, ignoring the structural issues in the economy that push a majority away from acquiring skills that could lead them to better job opportunities. Their entire lives are spent earning money that can barely cover rent expenses per month. In all this, they are left with nothing to provide better nutrition to their children. When the issue is raised, the narrative of those who want to maintain the status quo is that the victims are only themselves to blame.
What they conveniently choose to ignore is long queues outside charity organisations where a family member lines up for hours to get a packet of cooked meal. They ignore that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers choose to not take essential vitamins and spend the money they have to pay bills or other liabilities. How are we going to progress if we keep ignoring our children? We marvel at the West when energetic innovators introduce their shiny products, wondering why we are left behind. The reason is that developed countries focus on their children. They ensure that a child’s nutrition and education is not delegated to market players who keep profits over everything else. The concept of free market is great; and the government should ideally be not involved in businesses. But when it comes to food and health, authorities should always have the upper hand, ensuring that their people are not going to bed on an empty stomach or suffering with a treatable condition due to lack of funds. On every Children’s Day, we pledge not to leave any child behind. It is time we honoured our commitment.
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