‘Girls neglected on nutrition agenda’

LAHORE:There are 40 million adolescents in Pakistan between 12 and 19 years old that make 20 per cent of the country’s population. They are neglected on nutrition agenda - particularly girls, which is perpetuating malnutrition.

These views were expressed by Dr Zohra Lassi from Aga Khan University who gave a presentation on adolescents’ nutrition at the second Universal Healthcare Symposium held by Medical University Alumni Association of the UK (KEMCA UK) here on Wednesday.

Dr Zohra Lassi said, “We get two windows of opportunity to break intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. The first 1,000 days are the best window of opportunity. If the mother breastfeeds the baby in the first 1,000 days, it would be wonderful.” “The second time we get an opportunity to make a difference in adolescence. What children eat during this period of life does not affect only them, nutritional deficiency affects their offspring as well. Anemia is prevalent in Pakistan, particularly among girls and gets worse in lower regions of Sindh and Balochistan. Sustained advocacy is required. Malnutrition perpetuates poverty.”

Lassi pointed out that in Pakistan one in six girls was married before the age of 19 years. On the Youth Development Index, Pakistan’s number is at 154 out of 183 countries. There are 340 million adolescents in South Asia. While communicable diseases have decreased and mortality has reduced, morbidity and inequity have increased among adolescents.

Obesity is increasing in both boys and girls but so is number of underweight children, particularly in the developing countries. Obesity is high among boys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the number of underweight children is high in Punjab and Sindh. She emphasised on engaging community to improve nutrition and the need to close gaps in evidence and data. “We can’t achieve our goals if half of the population continues to be ignored,” she said. The government or public sector needs to allocate more funds here. Pakistan has allocated 0.69 per cent of general government expenditure for nutrition.