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#Malnutrition #hunger #Political #Economy
The recently published Safe the Children’s Report states that Pakistan has the second highest number of world -born hunger.
What does that mean for a child born in Pakistan?
Pakistan is a country where in the first 28 days of his life, one in 26 newborn children die. In the first year of life, one in 20 newborn baby is killed. And not one in 16 children can live at the age of 5. We are also a country where 4 out of 10 children under the age of five are tough, namely chronic nutrition with low altitude for age. 17.7 % is suffering from waste, which is severe nutrition with low weight for height. This double burden of malnutrition appears rapidly, with one in three children lose weight.
Although the risk of malnutrition is distributed equally to genders, children living in rural areas face all kinds of malnutrition compared to their peers in urban areas. Pakistan is the fifth largest climate country in the world. It has a high exposure to flood -revenue, flash, urban – as well as drought as well as drought. The possibility of severe food insecurity is 20-25 %. It also faces a significant threat to destruction, (according to the 2024’s Risk Index due to the 2024 earthquake and internal conflict exhibition, 23rd of 194 countries). Due to the high rates of multi -dimensional poverty, 37 of 191 are the social threat in Pakistan.
Let us renovate our question in this context.
In politics and social studies, hunger is a condition in which a person does not have physical or financial ability to eat enough food to meet the basic nutritional needs for a permanent period. It is different from the physical definition of hunger, which is a physical feeling that stimulates food consumption.
When a Pakistani baby is born in hunger, it means that they are born in situations where there is a lack of proper food and nutrition. This can have a serious impact on their health and development. This means that the baby may experience malnutrition from birth, which results in serious consequences such as severe growth, weak immune system and academic development issues. These results are evident throughout the child’s entire life.
Internal effects begin before the baby is born. When maternity health is compromised, the fetus is subjected to a negative and harsh environment. They cannot find the necessary nutrients and oxygen. This leads to poor growth and growth of the fetus. As a result, the baby is produced smaller than normal size.
Such children are often born prematurely, namely 37 weeks of pregnancy, and before weight. They may face many challenges, including difficulty breathing, maintaining physical temperature, feeding problems and increasing risk of infection. Long -term, they may be at risk of developmental delays, learning disabilities and chronic health problems. Since breastfeeding is not widely practiced at the beginning of breastfeeding, these weak children lose another opportunity to gain strength.
The newborn is another icy ground. A nutritious mother who lacks a lack of lack of lack of lack and often feeds the struggle with the stability of milking milk and the stability of breastfeeding. He is usually a settlement for feeding the bottle, feeding mixed feeding and formula/ animal milk weakness to meet demand within limited resources. All of these factors cause a poor supply of diarrhea, infection and nutrition to the already compromised child.
Once the baby reaches the age of six months, it is very important to introduce the proper complement of age, as well as the breastfeeding. However, only one out of three children suffer from complementary foods between 6-8 months and 2 years. In addition, only one out of seven children aged 6-23 enjoy eating with the least nutritional diversity, including at least four different eating groups. In addition, only one out of five children get the least amount of food a day. Maximum growth and development of the minimum acceptable diet standards is provided at less than one out of 20 children (3.6 %) at the age of 6-23 months.
Let’s stop and integrate the points to answer this question: What does this delicate new life journey mean in hunger?
The ability of many children is not due to the lack of willingness but the circumstances. A hungry child is a passionate reminder that in the world of resources, the world, causes discomfort to prevent their distribution.
Every year 1.4 million Pakistani children have the fate.
The results of this report call for a deep reflection on collective responsibility. We need to work with sympathy and hurry, so as to move beyond the “policy prescriptions” and solve the issues of operationalization. Acquisition is about the need for a comprehensive support system, from health care and nutrition programs to educational measures that empower mothers, parents and local communities. In a setting where community bonds are strong and hope is often the light, solving hunger and malnutrition is not just a matter of survival. It is also about the youngest and the weakest dreams and upbringing of the future.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “When I die, do not make any memorable for me. Don’t give me a degree from the great universities. Just wear naked clothes. Try to tell people that I tried to feed the hungry.
Author Aga Khan is a PhD scholar in relation to population and public health at the University.
