Nearly four in ten under five children in Punjab are stunted while nearly two out of every 10 children under five also suffer from wasting, a form of malnutrition which puts affected children at high risk of dying, said the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2018-19. The provincial dissemination of survey was held here on Friday under the aegis of the Planning and Development Board, government of the Punjab, in collaboration with UNICEF Pakistan. The event was hosted in order to highlight the key findings of NNS 2018-19 to shed light on the prevailing situation of malnutrition in the province of Punjab to initiate dialogue with regards to provincial policy development around malnutrition and to reiterate Punjab government's commitment towards making nutrition a priority.
The NNS 2018-2019 is the largest ever nutrition survey in the history of Pakistan inclusive of provincial and district level data. The survey provides robust evidence for programming to scale up nutrition sensitive and nutrition specific interventions with a high-level of development and progress.
The NNS 2018-19 was conducted by the Agha Khan University in collaboration with Ministry of Health Services Regulation and Coordination (MoHSR&C) government of Pakistan along with the support of UNICEF Pakistan and Department for International Development (DFID). The survey assesses the nutrition status of 40,452 households across Punjab. Children under-five, adolescent girls and women of child bearing age were the primary focus while collecting the data on nutrition indicators, along with data on access to water and its quality, hygiene and sanitation, food security and disability among children.
The survey said that 23.5% of children under-five were found to be underweight while 9.9% were overweight in Punjab. Moreover, the survey reports that one in eight adolescent girls and nearly two in eight adolescent boys are underweight in the province while approximately 41% of the adolescent girls are anemic.
The findings of the survey were shared by Professor Dr Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, Founding Director of Centre of Excellence in Women & Child Health, Agha Khan University. The event included participation of all key stakeholders, amongst them were esteemed representatives including Dr Yasmin Rashid, Minister for Health Murad Raas, Minister for Education Habib-ur-Rahman Gilani, Chairman P&D Board Zahid Akhtar Zaman Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Dr Eric Alain Ategbo, Chief of Nutrition UNICEF Pakistan, Dr Baseer khan Achakzai, Director Nutrition (MoHSR&C) Government of Pakistan and Dr Sohail Saqlain, Member Health Nutrition and Population, P&D Board. Dr Yasmin Rashid, Minister for Health, said, "Preventing and reducing malnutrition saves lives, reduces illness, enables children to learn and helps individuals and countries escape from poverty and maximize their potential." She continued that malnutrition remains a top priority agenda of the current government and the relevant ministries and departments have been endlessly engaged in efforts to address the issue of malnutrition.
Habib-ur-Rahman Gilani, Chairman Planning and Development Board, said, "Sustainable Development Goal 2 - 'Zero Hunger' specifically addresses the need to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. It can only be achieved if no child, woman or man is left behind - regardless of how difficult and challenging the circumstances."
Eric Alain, Chief Nutrition, UNICEF Pakistan, said, "UNICEF along with its UN partners is committed to supporting and continuing working with the government of Sindh in its efforts to reduce prevalence of all forms of malnutrition among vulnerable groups in the province." The survey results are key for shaping the nutrition and healthcare policy landscape of the province of Punjab.
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