An Enormous Challenge: Pakistan Must Put Nutrition at the Center of Food Policy

Pakistan faces a nutrition crisis despite having enough food energy available overall. The country’s children rank among the most malnourished in South Asia, while the food system still fails to provide reliable access to the range of foods needed for a healthy diet.

Studies and official figures cited in the editorial indicate that roughly 30% to 40% of children under five are stunted, 30% are underweight and 17.7% suffer from wasting. Maternal malnutrition adds another layer of risk. About one in three mothers is malnourished, while 42.7% of women of childbearing age are anaemic, 27% lack sufficient vitamin A and 80% are deficient in vitamin D.

Those conditions contribute to low birth weight, reported at 22.7%, and can affect children throughout their lives. Children born to malnourished women face higher risks of cognitive impairment, short stature, infections, disease and death, the editorial says.

The problem is not simply a shortage of calories. Pakistan’s food supply does not meet national guidelines for a healthy diet, with persistent gaps in fruits and vegetables, pulses and legumes. Those shortages limit both access to nutritious food and people’s ability to choose a balanced diet.

Attempts to address the problem date back to the country’s first Five Year Plan in 1955-60, which prompted dairy reforms and efforts to improve milk distribution to stakeholders including malnourished children. Dairy initiatives also targeted small and medium-sized producers around Karachi and Lahore. A pilot school milk programme delivered bottled milk to government and private schools, but it did not last or expand nationwide.

The editorial says Pakistan’s approach must move beyond securing staple foods such as wheat. Financing, it argues, remains the biggest obstacle to making nutrition a central reform objective rather than treating food security as the production of sufficient calories.