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Thursday March 28, 2024

3-day workshop of nutritional epidemiology concludes

By Bureau report
April 13, 2019

PESHAWAR: The three-day workshop of nutritional epidemiology concluded at the Khyber Medical University on Friday.

Vice-chancellor Prof Dr Arshad Javaid was the chief guest. He said adequate nutrition was must for a healthy life.

“The nutrition situation of the country shows that more efforts are required to achieve adequate nutrition intake ensuring better health for all. The maternal and child malnutrition statistics show poor nutrition situation in the country underlines the need for a thorough review of nutrition policy,” he added.

He elaborated that with the complexity of double burden of malnutrition and obesity as well as non-communicable diseases, it was important to strengthen nutrition research in local context to understand the extent and determinants of nutritional problems.

“This will help formulate effective nutrition policies and for the purpose of research, capacities are required to be enhanced,” he said.

He hoped that the workshop would fully focus on nutritional epidemiology as it was part of the initiative of the department of human nutrition to bolster research in this important area.

Dr Arshad Javaid said that breastfeeding is one of the most natural, simplest, non-controversial and cost-effective nutrition interventions for child survival and development.

However, despite growing evidence and its established benefits, breastfeeding was no more a norm in many communities, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.

“To support the government in its efforts to curb the very high-level of chronic and acute malnutrition and widespread micronutrient deficiencies in this province, the role of academia is of paramount importance,” he added.