ISLAMABAD: The Global Nutrition Report 2017 showed that 6 per cent children in Pakistan are stunted and facing obesity due to the consumption of junk food, reported a leading English daily.
Planning Commission of Pakistan reported that the country has the lowest portion of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on nutrition in Asia, which is 3.7 per cent. Meanwhile, stunting prevalence has increased slightly since 1992 to 2012 from 43 per cent to 45 per cent. And, exclusive breastfeeding rates have doubled from 1990 to 2013.
The increase in the rates of obesity is 31 per cent among women and 25 per cent among men, was of greater concern, Aslam Shaheen, chief nutrition at the Planning Division, said.
According to Pakistan Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, 70 per cent Pakistan’s population cannot afford balanced diet and disparity in provinces like Punjab is 60 per cent and Balochistan 88 per cent. He added that Pakistan is spending $7.6 billion per annum for the additional health expenditure and decreasing productivity due to anaemia and other health issues.
The report further points out that a majority of the world’s hungry and malnourished lived in developing countries. Southern Asia faces the greatest hunger burden with about 281 million undernourished people.