ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services and Nutrition International on Monday launched a national social and behaviour change strategy for maternal nutrition.
Addressing the ceremony, speakers said that with having an effective social and behaviour change strategy the issue of maternal nutrition could be addressed.
They said that an effective behaviour change strategy can help prevent millions of people from suffering various forms of malnutrition, ranging from under-nutrition to obesity, every year.
They said that one of the major challenges in fighting malnutrition has been the vast and often conflicting array of evidence and advice on nutrition information.
They said, “What we need to do is to make clear what are effective interventions.”
They said that several billion people worldwide are affected by one or more types of malnutrition including undernutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and overweight and obesity.
Health experts said that about 115 million preschool children worldwide are underweight, 190 million preschool children are affected by vitamin A deficiency and 1.6 billion people have anaemia, mostly due to iron deficiency.
An estimated 1.5 billion people are overweight, of whom 500 million are obese, according to WHO figures, they added.