Karachi : O5 Sept Speakers at the Seminar in Karachi University food Sciences department laminated the light on food insecurity , mal nutrition and healthy diet.
Pakistan ranks 102 in global hunger Index 2023 indicates presence of malnutrition in population,While 50% of Sindh women are anaemic due malnutrition which links with poverty .
Food insecurity and malnutrition are serious global challenges and they are more serious issues in South Asian and African regions revealed by the Registrar of the University of Karachi Professor Dr Abdul Waheed.
He was addressing a seminar called Nutrivision-2024 .
Dr Waheed expressed that food insecurity and malnutrition are daunting challenges for Pakistan. The Food Security Assessment Survey in 2016 also reflected that 18 percent of the population of Pakistan is undernourished.
Referring to UNICEF’s 2018 report, he said that around 37 percent of the population is facing food insecurity even though Pakistan is self-sufficient in essential staple foods.
He further said that Pakistan is frequently facing drop and famine, affecting household income and food security issues. This issue is largely observed in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Sindh is the second largest province of Pakistan in terms of population and third in terms of area which is facing huge poverty, unemployment, income inequality, food insecurity, and lack of education and health facilities in the rural areas. Dr Abdul Waheed mentioned that the rural areas of Sindh face an acute shortage of water, particularly in the summer season.
Generally there are 12 to 15 homes that have a single hand pump or water pumps. The lack of water facilities also affects their cleanliness and subsequently deteriorates the health of the family. During the discussion with health service providers, it was found that malnutrition is one of the basic problems in rural Sindh due to insufficient and imbalanced nourishment and poor hygienic conditions.”
He added that rural Sindh is severely affected by malnutrition and stunting issues. According to the National Nutrition Survey in 2018 about 50 percent of children under five years of age are stunted and around 35 percent are severely stunted.
One of the speakers mentioned that poverty and malnutrition can often result in large ramifications for early brain development. Good nutrition for both the mother and child is necessary for optimal brain development. This includes receiving the proper daily caloric intake and critical micro and macronutrients. Calories are essential fuel for the growing organ, while key nutrients such as protein, iron, and various vitamins, support particular neurodevelopmental processes within the brain. This requires access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, and quality foods. Without access to these resources, malnutrition, or poor nutrition, Another speaker, a child specialist Dr Azhar Chughtai said that there are more than 15 medical colleges in Sindh alone, but good doctors are not available.He emphasized on the importance of Zinc.Our second biggest import is edible oil which we have to minimise in our daily diet ,he added more.
The founder chairperson of the KU FS&TD Dr Rashida Ali said that the reason for most diseases in Pakistan is lack of nutritional information and the most common diseases in Pakistan including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases are also related to diet. The origin of diseases is weight issues and caused due to lack of energy balance.
Earlier, the KU Chairman FS & TD Dr Abdul Haq, faculty member Dr Syed Muhammad Ghafran Saeed, Dr Zubala Lutfi,Haseeb Khan, and other industrialists also spoke on this occasion.
Technical Advisor Nutrition ,Govt of Sindh -Dr Naveed Bhutto ,Munwar – R & D,Head EBM , Dr Tooba Mehfoz – Iqra University , Uroosa – Ahmed foods, Haseeb Khan – Executive Director ,Luckyone Mall , Researcher -Dr Naeemullah , Zohaib Azam and Rizwan – Epi foods, Wasif Malik – UM enterprises , Ahsan and Sarfraz – Salman foods , Gulzar – Rehmate Shiren and Talha Mufti – Expert Halal food certification received momentos from the chief guest Dr .Rashida founder and former Chairman of department of food Sciences .
