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Four out of every ten children aged five years or under in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are stunted while nearly two out of every ten suffer from wasting, said the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2018. The survey was conducted with the financial support of the United Kingdom and the technical support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICE) through Agha Khan University.
The survey says that in the newly merged districts (NMD), previously known as Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), over three out of every ten children are affected by wasting. It further reveals that over 20 percent of children under-5 are underweight and over 10 percent are overweight in KP. The survey assesses the nutrition status of 17,305 households across KP and KP-NMD. Children under-five, adolescent girls and women of children bearing are age the primary focus for the data on the indicators related to nutrition, access to water and its quality, hygiene and sanitation, food security and disability among children.
The national nutrition survey has pointed out that in both KP and KP-NMD, adolescent girls and boys bear a double burden of malnutrition with over 30 percent of adolescent girls in KP and more than half of them in KP-NMD are anaemic. The survey further reveals that over 10 percent of children between the ages of two and five years suffer from some form of functional disability across Pakistan.
In a comment on survey findings, a senior official of the KP Health Department claimed that the KP nutrition profile has improved modestly since the National Nutrition Survey 2011 from 48 percent to 40 percent. However, a stunning rate of 40 percent and wasting rate of 15 percent (decreased from 17.3 percent in 2011) as indicated by the 2018 survey is still very high and needs concerted efforts to accelerate the progress of reduction.
During the period of last seven years, KP has registered encouraging improvement in rates of exclusive breastfeeding (64 percent). However, complimentary feeding practices in the province are inadequate (with only 12.1 percent) children age 6-23 months) receiving recommended diversified food and only 3.1 percent receiving acceptable diet meeting the minimum diversity.
The official acknowledged that the adolescent's nutrition profile is also a point of concern with more than 20 percent girls and boys are overweight in KP that is posing a new threat and pre-disposing this generation to increase in non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension. The results of the National Nutrition Survey 2018, he said have broaden the evidence base and has highlighted key areas for all of us to focus on. The provincial government, he added is determined to engage with relevant departments, academia, the nutrition development partners including the UN agencies, civil society, private sector and key donors to address the widespread problems of mal-nutrition in holistic manner through engagement of multiple sectors and stakeholders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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