Threat of a malnourished, underachieving generation of Pakistanis calls for simple accelerated actions
By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Malnutrition has a lifelong effect on Pakistan’s children and adults and severe consequences for the economy, experts opined at the launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2016 and in the subsequent discussion on policy responses to the country’s nutrition crisis. The seminar on Towards Sustainable Nutrition in Pakistan: Unlocking Barriers focused on identifying multi-sectoral interventions that could help reduce malnutrition and nurture future generations. The speakers called for simple accelerated actions to improve the quality of life and to meet commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Goals 2 and 3 on ending hunger, and ensuring healthy lives and well being for all ages. “Inadequate access to nutrition in the first few years of a child’s life results in irreversible neurological and physical effects, diminished mental ability and learning capacity, increased vulnerab...