Second day of Act for Nutrition conference begins in Pakistan

The second day of the international conference “Act For Nutrition: The Emergency We Can No Longer Ignore” began at Islamabad’s Serena Hotel with a short film from Aga Khan University titled *Leaky Guts*.

The gathering brings together policymakers, international development leaders, health professionals and nutrition experts to address Pakistan’s persistent nutrition and stunting crisis. On the opening day, experts warned that more than four in 10 children under five were stunted. They said malnutrition was costing Pakistan close to $17 billion a year.

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This clearly is a challenge of not just the quantity but also the quality of diet. We need to ensure that diverse nutrition reaches those most vulnerable.

Speakers linked the crisis to poor diets, inadequate healthcare, weak water and sanitation services, poverty and other factors. They argued that the scale of the problem requires a response involving several sectors rather than a single institution.

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Nutrition is not just an isolated event.

Dr Saima Hamid, programme and research lead at the Population Council, said Pakistan’s population growth rate stood at 2.55 percent and that the population would double in 28 years, increasing pressure on resources. “This clearly is a challenge of not just the quantity but also the quality of diet. We need to ensure that diverse nutrition reaches those most vulnerable,” she said.

Hamid also said domestic food security was declining. “Nutrition is not just an isolated event,” she said, adding that responsibility cuts across nutrition, food security, health and purchasing power. A session examining population growth’s effect on family well-being followed.

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One sector isn’t really responsible … there is a clear intersection of nutrition, food security, health, purchasing power.