One in 3 children stunted as malnutrition haunts 21% of population

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 34 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted due to chronic malnutrition, while over 20.7 per cent of the population remains undernourished — alarming figures that signal a deepening nutrition emergency in the country as revealed by Pakistan Economic Survey 2024–25 on Monday.

Pakistan currently ranks 109th out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index with a score of 27.9, placing it in the “serious” category of hunger-afflicted nations.

These indicators suggest that the country continues to fall behind even South Asian averages for nutrition, with wasting prevalence at 7.1 per cent, underweight at 23.5 per cent, and obesity rising to 10.2 per cent among children under five — further burdening the healthcare system .

Daily calorie availability per capita has improved from 2,585 kcal/day in FY2022 to 2,719.69 kcal/day in FY2025, yet this progress remains uneven.

Access to protein-rich foods like pulses (9.92 grams/person/day), fish (2.86 grams), and mutton (2.31 grams) remains limited. Moreover, despite improvements, 23 per cent of pregnant women remain underweight, and 21.4 per cent of children are born with low birth weight — both significant predictors of lifelong nutritional challenges.

The cost of the minimum food basket has also become a pressing issue amid inflation, averaging Rs5,639 per person/month in March 2025, though this marked a decline from Rs 6,227 in December 2024, indicating modest relief.

In response, the government has initiated several national and sub-national programmes.

The Benazir Nashonuma Programme (BNP), implemented in collaboration with the World Food Programme, provides nutrition assistance to pregnant and lactating women and children under two across 159 districts. So far, it has supported over 785,000 women and children, with conditional cash transfers and specialised food supplements.

Additionally, the Pakistan Nutrition Initiative (PANI) and the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Youth Network launched in early 2025 aim to increase public awareness, mobilise youth, and promote healthy behaviours. In preparation for the upcoming 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit, Pakistan is also developing new commitments to align its national nutrition priorities with global goals.

Provincially, Punjab allocated over Rs7.5 billion toward maternal and child health nutrition under the Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn & ChildHealth (IRMNCH) & Nutrition Programme Phase-III and Chief Minister’s Stunting Reduction Programme.

Sindh spent Rs11 billion under its Accelerated Action Plan (AAP) across multiple sectors including health, WASH, and agriculture. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa introduced the SPRING project, while Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) scaled up food testing labs, early childhood programmes, trout farming, and umbrella nutrition response initiatives.

Experts warn that without urgent multisectoral reforms, the consequences of malnutrition will continue to erode Pakistan’s economic productivity, school performance, and health outcomes. With only five years left to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger), the Economic Survey has called for greater convergence between sectors, increased funding, and policy accountability to address the crisis.