New Delhi, Feb 16 || Pakistan is facing the double burden of malnutrition and obesity, intensifying pressures on the national health system and public well-being, a new report has lamented, adding that widespread consumption of nutrient-deficient foods has compounded Pakistan’s long-standing malnutrition crisis, hitting women and children the hardest.
According to a report in Business Recorder, a recent assessment by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed the deep structural distortions within the country’s food system that are eroding nutrition, and by extension weakening public health and long-term development outcomes.
According to the report, while the system generates sufficient calories to feed the population, “it fails to deliver the volume and diversity of healthy and nutritious foods required for a balanced diet”.
In effect, the country is producing energy, not nourishment, leaving millions vulnerable to malnutrition, stunting and diet-related diseases, said the report.
The most alarming finding is the sharp rise in consumption of sweets and snack foods.