DIRTY WATER ,ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS,FAST FOOD,FIZZY DRINKS, WORM INFESTING are ALARMINGLY RENDERING MORE THAN 44% OF STUNTED CHILDREN IN PAKISTAN?

Worthy audience More than 90 per cent of the developing world's stunted children live in Africa and Asia. Rate of stunting growth is almost 44 %.With inadequate nutrition among mothers during pregnancy is one of the main reasons of malnutrition among children leading to stunting. A child is defined as ‘stunted’ if they are too short for their age. Stunting is one of the leading measures used to assess childhood malnutrition. It indicates that a child has failed to reach their growth potential as a result of disease, poor health and malnutrition. This indicates that their growth and development have been hindered. Stunting is a significant identifier marker of childhood malnutrition. Few tragic news are:-

• Nearly 22-27 million Pakistani children suffer from stunting.
• Only 21 per cent of children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.
• Lack of adequate population planning & frequent baby’s birth (trend has gone alarmingly high due to frequent divorce & remarriages for pleasure seeking &want of male child.  

2   How is Stunting Measured? Worthy Raders. Stunting is measured based on a child’s height relative to their age. The World Health Organization (WHO) sets out global growth curves these show the expected trajectory of a child’s growth from birth through to adulthood.Of course, we would not expect everyone to be exactly the same height there is a range of factors, such as genetics, which influence our height and are not a reflection of poor health or malnutrition. These growth curves therefore span a range of heights. We see these growth curves for boys and girls in the chart.

he median growth curve is shown by the thick line. The ribbons around this median show the ‘acceptable’ range. This range is two standard deviations above and below the median. A child whose height falls below the bottom of the ribbon that is, two standard deviations (2 SD) below their expected height for their age is defined as ‘stunted’. Worthy readers in a human population, the prevalence of stunting is defined as the share of children under five years old that fall two standard deviations below the expected height for their age. To estimate the prevalence of stunting, researchers draw on household and demographic surveys, which include measurements of childhood growth, alongside official health data from governments that monitor child development.

Summary.A child is classified as stunted when they are too short for their age Based on international agreement, children are considered stunted if their length/height-for-age is less than – 2 SDs from the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards median for the same age and sex 

3. What Are The Causes Of Stunting in Pakistan?. Ladies and Gentlemen stunting can occur throughout childhood, but is largely determined by a child’s “first 1,000 days”. This stretches from the period just before conception (meaning the nutritional status of mothers is very important) through to the child’s second birthday. This is when a child experiences its most rapid phase of growth and development. Main Causes of Stunted growth are:-

• Inadequate nourishment among mothers especially during pregnancy is one of the main reasons of malnourishment among children leading to stunting. Lack of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium. Iron deficiency is the most common cause of child malnutrition worldwide. Iron deficiency leads to anemia in children.
• Worm infestation is a major cause of health hazards in Pakistan.
• Poverty leading to poor nutrition and a lack of access to diverse foods& balanced diet.
• Excessive use of fizzy drinks, fast foods, frozen preserved foods & induced or inherited diabetes?
• Use of drugs and erotica tonic & energy drinks such as STING though a soft drink but highly dangerous for females ?
• Poor sanitation and no access to clean drinking water.
• Lack of proper healthcare for children and their mothers.
• Inadequate psychosocial stimulation may be owing to mental stress, insecurity & fear of breaking wedlock? May be husband or wives’ perfidy & poor fertility?   
• Inadequate Parent-infant bonding. Cousin  Marriages or inheritance or hazardous blood group mismatch.
• Inhaling of toxic fumes or radiations or working at a place where toxic fumes / particles remain hung in the air or a part of the such hazardous product  manufacturing process (paints/close proximity to POL refineries & Airports……?   
• Food intake, environmental health, and poor care for children and women are the three main determinants of stunting at the most immediate level. Very few of Pakistan's young children have adequacy in all these three dimensions, and the proportion of children with multiple adequacies is as low as 1.6 percent.
• This can be caused by a poor diet alone, but is often exacerbated by disease and hormonic disorder.
• When a child is fighting poor health or disease, its nutritional requirements are often higher it needs more energy and nutrients to not only grow, but to also fight infection.
• The absorption of nutrients might also be impacted. For example, if it experiences repeated bouts of diarrheal diseases which are common in children its ability to retain nutrients will be severely impacted.
• Therefore, to prevent stunting we must ensure mothers have good nutrition and health prior to, and during, pregnancy; a child has access to a sufficient and nutritious diet; has access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to prevent infection; and has adequate treatment to recover quickly from disease and poor health.

4. Poor Health Alert in Pakistan.Worthy audince so to say:-

• UNICEF officials shared alarming statistics about the worsening malnutrition in a considerably large chunk of the populace while briefing and noted that more than 44% of children in the country were victims of stunting.
• Similarly, 9.4% of boys and 9% of girls are suffering from obesity while 20.5% of young boys and 20.7% of young girls were overweight respectively.
•  “12.6% of young boys and 12.1% of girls suffer from diabetes,” they said, adding that baby formula milk was booming.
• During 2020, global sales of baby formula milk were up to $64.8 billion and increased to $80.6 billion by 2022.
• In Pakistan, 14.6% of 6 to 23 months olds, while 34% worldwide, babies are breastfed.
• In Pakistan Iron, zinc and vitamins are additionally added to wheat. Only in Punjab, soda, energy drinks and junk food are banned around educational institutions.